Can Canadiens push for top spot in Atlantic Division?

After all the buzz following Sunday’s 8-7 game-of-the-year candidate between the Buffalo Sabres and Tampa Bay Lightning, you could be forgiven for thinking the Atlantic Division crown will come down to a race between those two teams. But looking at the Atlantic Division standings, it’s clear that a handful of squads are still within sniffing distance of first place in what has been the NHL’s most competitive division all season.

Of the teams other than the Sabres and Lightning, the Montreal Canadiens have the best shot to make a late run and claim the Atlantic by season’s end. With 80 points through 63 games, they’re only six points back of division-leading Buffalo with two games in hand. Having earned points in nine of their last 10 games, Montreal is playing solid hockey, and could be poised to make a late-season charge.

On Wednesday’s episode of Daily Faceoff LIVE, hosts Tyler Yaremchuk and Steve Peters were joined by Max Lapierre to discuss the Canadiens’ chances at taking the Atlantic Division this season.

Steve Peters: Can this team challenge for the top spot in the Atlantic Division with under 20 games to go?

Max Lapierre: I think so. We’ve talked about the goaltending. It’s been an issue all year. We had no confidence in who was going to be in net. Even if earlier in the season (Jakub) Dobes was winning, he was all over the place in his net. Now things are changing. He looks solid in front of the net. He’s winning not because the team is scoring five or six goals a game. They’re winning because he’s solid. He’s been really good the last two to three games. If the goaltending goes to that level, and they figure it out a little bit in their defensive zone, and the injuries. Let’s not forget guys like (Alex) Newhook that were out, (Kirby) Dach is starting to get his rhythm back. If these guys can be at the top of their games, it’s a game changer for me and I think there’s no issue scoring goals. It’s just the little details defensively. I think this team can be surprising.

You can catch the full discussion and the rest of Wednesday’s episode here…