Canadiens hitting stride at right time

By Bud L. Ellis

This is the right time of the year for the Montreal Canadiens to start playing well. After all, they did it last year in turning the Stanley Cup playoffs upside down.

The Canadiens are 7-3-0 in March, winning two of their past three, to pull within one point of first-place Boston in the Northeast Division. Montreal opened March with four victories in a row and are one of just four Eastern Conference teams with 40 victories.

Sitting sixth in the conference standings with 86 points, getting ahead of Boston and winning the Northeast would vault Montreal into the third seed. If the playoffs started today, the Bruins and Canadiens would face off, but Boston would have the home-ice advantage.

That shouldn’t faze Montreal if that scenario plays out this spring. Last season, Montreal just barely squeaked into the playoffs as the eighth and final seed in the East. All the Canadiens did was upend Washington and Pittsburgh, winning two Game 7s on the road during a shocking run to the Eastern Conference finals.

The Canadiens can take a big step toward winning the Northeast on Thursday when Montreal plays at Boston. Washington, second in the East, comes to Montreal on Saturday.

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Tuesday, March 22, 2011 at 7:18 pm by bud

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