Canadiens Outworked By The Blue Jackets

After an intense battle with the Tampa Bay Lightning on Thursday night, the Montreal Canadiens hosted the Columbus Blue Jackets at the Bell Centre on Saturday, and the visitors were desperate for a win to keep their playoff hopes alive. For a third game in a row, veteran Brendan Gallagher was watching the game from the press gallery, joined by sophomore Zach Bolduc for a second game in a row. As for Kaiden Guhle, he remained out of the lineup, meaning that Adam Engstrom, Arber Xhekaj, and Jayden Struble were all still in the lineup.

Breaking: Canadiens Prospect Hage Will Remain In NCAA According To Friedman Canadiens’ Prospect Playing Pivotal Role For WHL Team In The Playoffs The Canadiens Sent A Message, They’re Not Afraid To Get Their Hands Dirty Wanting It More With their playoff lives on the line, the Blue Jackets came out strong and stormed the Canadiens’ zone early on. Less than two minutes in, they were up by one and had four shots on net. Five and a half minutes later, they were up by two and just looked like they wanted it more.

While one might think well, that’s normal since they haven’t booked their playoff spot, it’s a bit worrying. At this stage of the season, teams should be playing playoff-like hockey every day. Montreal did a good job of it against Tampa Bay, but on Saturday night, they looked like they weren’t ready.

A week from now, when the puck drops on the playoffs, every game is going to be a must-win game, and every team will be fighting for its life. Montreal needs to be ready for that right out of the gate, and those last three games against teams fighting for a playoff spot are a perfect rehearsal that shouldn’t be taken lightly. Missing Guhle With Guhle missing a third game in a row, the fact that the Canadiens are missing him dearly had never been so obvious.