MONTREAL, QC — It’s been a picture-perfect season for the Montreal Canadiens, who currently sit third in the Atlantic while riding a seven-game winning streak, creeping up on the likes of the Tampa Bay Lightning and the Buffalo Sabres.

While it seemed unlikely for the youngest team in the NHL to be a contender out of the Eastern Conference, it doesn’t seem far from reality right now, as they currently rank sixth in the NHL, with their star players heading for record breaking years as well as solid goaltending.

Nick Suzuki and Cole Caufield having historic seasons

Forty years ago is how far you must track back to find the last time a Montreal Canadiens player hit 100 points in a season, with Mats Naslund achieve just that when he had a 110-point campaign in the 1985-86 NHL season. Forty years later, it’s looking like 26-year-old captain Nick Suzuki will be the next 100 point player in Montreal.

Suzuki is currently sitting seventh in the NHL in scoring with 94 points in 75 games. A point per game rate to end the season will have the Canadiens’ captain hitting the plateau. Not only producing at a franchise altering rate, but Suzuki is also currently projected to take home the Frank J Selke Trophy as the NHL’s best defensive forward for his elite 200-foot game, where he can be the first player to hit the 100-point mark while winning the defensive award since Sergei Federov in 1993-94 and the team’s first Selke winner since Guy Carbonneau in 1992.

Since coming back from the Olympic break, Suzuki’s production has surged, with 9 goals 20 assists in 18 games, a performance that head coach Martin St. Louis predicted, when talking about how valuable the Olympic experience will be for him:

“I feel like when you go into those tournaments for two weeks surrounded by the elite, you’re gonna absorb something,” he said. “It might not necessarily be hockey stuff on the ice. It could be so many other things that the elite do, and how they do it. “As a player, I remember going there and just trying to absorb as much as I could,” St. Louis explained. “Both on and off the ice, and I think that’s the opportunity that Nick is going to have.” 

Mr. Saturday Night

A title once belonged to former Canadiens’ netminder Carey Price has been passed to Montreal’s current No.13 Cole Caufield, who is currently neck and neck with star Nathan Mackinnon for the NHL goal scoring title where he trails by just one goal with 49. Never before a 40-goal scorer, Caufield is on pace for the Canadiens’ first 50 goal season in 45 years, last held by Stephane Richer in the 1989-90 campaign. Since getting snubbed from the Olympics, Caufield has 17 goals in 18 games and seems to be heating up right before springtime.

Together, Suzuki and Caufield are bracing for historic seasons and have led the Canadiens from a fringe playoff team to a legit contender.

The Emergence of Jakub Dobes

It wasn’t all gilts and glimmer for Montreal’s goaltending situation as it struggled to begin the year, even up to the NHL trade deadline where many were wondering if Habs GM Kent Hughes would look to shore up the net, but so far, those concerns have been answered with the phenomenal play of Jakub Dobes as of late.

After a 3-0-0 week stopping 100 out of 104 shots faced, Dobes was named the first star of the week by the NHL.

On top of that, Dobes made history in Sunday’s 3-1-win vs the Carolina Hurricanes, where he got his 25th victory of the season, passing legend Carey Price (2007-08) for the sixth most wins by a Montreal Canadiens rookie netminder in franchise history.  Dobes said all this success is just a result of confidence, and nothing drastic has changed about his game.

“I feel confident,” he stated. “I just feel strongly about my game right now. I feel good and I feel like I’m ready to play good hockey and whatever they ask me to do I feel like I’m ready. So I just feel good. I try to work hard in practices and games and help my teammates, be the best possible teammate and also help them to get better in practice or to help them as much in a game. That’s pretty much it.”

Potential Playoff Matchups

As the season starts to end, the Eastern Conference playoff race remains as tight as ever, where many teams are still fighting for their playoff aspirations. As for Montreal, things have whimpered down, and their playoff hopes to remain steady with a 99% chance according to MoneyPuck.COM, that’s what a seven-game winning streak will do for you. However, Montreal has an idea on their potential opponents and it’s looking like one of the three in order of likeliness: Buffalo, Tampa and Carolina, which are arguably the three best teams in the East. Here’s how Montreal have fared versus each opponent this season.

Buffalo Sabres

When asking Habs fans on X, this is a team that many are conflicted on, and rightfully so, the hottest team in the NHL over the last three months, who don’t seem to slow down anytime soon. The Sabres have a record of 34-9-4 since December 9th, a team that is starving for playoff hockey. Head-to-head, Montreal split the matchup 2-2, where they split 13 goals for and against, about as even as it gets. However, in the last 15 matchups between the two which are roughly the last three seasons, Montreal is 10-5 vs. the Sabres, a team where they have found lots of success. Also, they are the least experienced team of the three, where their two-star players Tage Thompson, Rasmus Dahlin and goaltender Ukko Pekko Lukkonen all have zero playoff games to their belt. This series would arguably the most exciting one of the post-season with both teams having minimal experience.

Tampa Bay Lightning

When surveyed on my X, this was a team that Habs fans want no part of. The question is, are they right to feel this way? History says, yeah kind of. These two still have one more matchup this season, after a convincing 4-1 victory on Tuesday in Tampa Bay, however their previous matchups this season show Montreal losing both in regulation, where they were outscored 10-5. In their last 15 matchups, the Habs are 4-11. The last time these two faced off in a playoff series was in the 2021 Stanley Cup Final, where they lost 4-1. Overall, Montreal’s success versus Tampa has been very minimal, and may be a series they would want to avoid.

Carolina Hurricanes

Lastly, the Carolina Hurricanes, where Montreal completed the season sweep versus them on Sunday with a 3-1 victory. In the season series, Montreal went 3-0 and outscored the Hurricanes 15-8. However, they’ve been outshot 60-103, a large part of their wins has been thanks to great finishing, and Jakub Dobes. On a 15-game scale, Montreal is 5-10 versus Carolina and have only really started finding success over the last two seasons winning five out of six recent meetings. Carolina is a team that goes deep in the post-season and often breeze through the first two rounds, however recent meetings show that Montreal can give them a run for their money.

It will be an exciting end to the season, where many Canadiens’ players will be looking to reach historic plateaus, and potentially get home ice advantage or maybe even an Atlantic Division title. Montreal have shown lots of success this year, now the question lies if this young team can translate it to post-season hockey.