Tuesday's victory over the Habs could be a turning point the Canucks need

The Montreal Canadiens winning ways came to halt on Tuesday night when the Canucks pulled out a 5-1 victory up in Vancouver.

Before that game, hockey news hubs were mostly focussed on the Eastern Conference Habs, who were in pursuit of a 10-0-0 start to their season. Following the tilt however, some focus has come back to the West-Coast-hailing Canucks, and if the victory will help keep them competitive in the Pacific Division standings.

To just take a gander at the standings, that seems like a silly thing to say. Vancouver is currently sitting in second place, why would they be in danger of not being competitive? And in October, no less?

Take a look back their most recent homestand--they weren’t exactly a team putting up great results, or adding points in the standings. Vancouver escaped tallying a 0-5-0 stint at Rogers Arena with the victory over Montreal, though it didn’t come without its stressors. The Canucks entered the third period of that game up 3-0, and it was hard not to acknowledge the couple of  third period leads that they had blown over the past week. Blowing leads and losing games means losing points, which can be the kiss of death as the season goes on and the standings become more important.

The Pacific Division currently has an interesting landscape. The LA Kings have picked up steam, although their 0-3-0 start isn’t so far in the rear-view mirror. Under new coaching the San Jose Sharks burst into the new campaign 4-0-0, before injuries caused them to drop three straight. The Arizona Coyotes got off to a surprisingly hot start, but have skidded as of late.. The projected Stanley Cup contenders, the Anaheim Ducks, have dropped to the lowest rung of the division standings, in part because of only scoring a league-low nine goals through eight games. It is, literally, open season among these teams.

One factor that could affect whether the win over the Habs was the start of a winning streak could be the up-coming schedule. The Canucks hit the road for a two-game stint, first facing the red-hot Dallas Stars. They will face off with divisional opponent Arizona before heading back to British Columbia for two games.

The back-and-forth could be taxing, and the rest of the division isn’t slowing its pace. But after Tuesday’s convincing win, Vancouver could be looking at a turnaround that won’t cost them more points in the standings.