Canadiens Tank Watch: Habs Reinforce Position In Bottom Five

The Montreal Canadiens had a perfect night from an NHL Draft Lottery perspective, dropping their game against the Lightning and getting help from across the NHL.

The Canadiens had themselves a very competitive game against the potent Tampa Bay Lightning that ended in a 5-3 loss for them, giving fans the best of both worlds when it comes to a lost season.

Canadiens’ youngsters like Denis Gurianov and Jesse Ylönen continue to play some inspiring hockey down the stretch, while the team, which has been crippled by injury, continues their slide down the standings.

In a season like this one, it’s the best outcome fans can ask for, as the youngsters gain experience and the Canadiens’ likelihood of picking in the top-5 of a very top-heavy draft increases.

The Canadiens now have a record of 60 points through 70 games this season, which has seen them slide down to the 28th-place, good for the 5th-best NHL Draft Lottery odds.

However, the Montreal Canadiens’ slide alone cannot guarantee them an advantageous spot in the NHL Draft Lottery on May 8, they’ll need some help.

And help is exactly what they’ve received of late.

Helping Hand

Saturday night was an eventful night in the NHL, with 13 games on the docket; three of which were of significant importance to the Canadiens.

To start the evening, the Philadelphia Flyers recorded their third point in 24 hours with an overtime loss to the Carolina Hurricanes, which brings their season totals to 62 points in 69 games.

The Flyers now have a two-point buffer on the Canadiens in 27th place and still have a game in hand to play out.

Comeback complete. Let's finish it. #CARvsPHI | @blemieux22 pic.twitter.com/ubZRQmIsqD

— Philadelphia Flyers (@NHLFlyers) March 18, 2023

Meanwhile, the Arizona Coyotes stayed hot and secured their fourth straight victory after dropping the Chicago Blackhawks 4-2 last night.

The Coyotes have surged up the standings as of late, going from 30th place to 26th place in the NHL in a matter of weeks.

They currently sit tied with the Vancouver Canucks with 65 points, but are bumped to 26th place due to having played more games this season (70).

To the dismay of general manager Bill Armstrong, the Coyotes are proving that, even with half their salary expenditure is going to LTIR contracts, they’re not going down without a fight.

WE LOVE TO SEE IT pic.twitter.com/KWN9CQ22yl

— Arizona Coyotes (@ArizonaCoyotes) March 19, 2023

Speaking of the Canucks, they’re also on quite the roll as of late, thanks in large part to the inspirational performances of Elias Pettersson and Thatcher Demko.

They faced a potent L.A. Kings roster last night and mounted a third-period comeback to push the game to overtime and ultimately take home the victory in a shootout.

Demko pushed back 38 of 40 shots in the game; continuing the streak of stellar performances since returning to injury.

Both the Coyotes and have now accumulated 65 points, giving the Canadiens a 5-point cushion between 28th place and 26th place.

EP40 TIES IT UP! pic.twitter.com/Ww88z8TJ4M

— Vancouver Canucks (@Canucks) March 19, 2023

The Drive For Bottom Five

The Montreal Canadiens now have 12 games left on their calendar with the likes of the Tampa Bay Lightning, Boston Bruins and Carolina Hurricanes coming up in their next few games.

The odds of the Canadiens continuing their slide down the standings increase with each passing game; especially when you couple it with the late-season surge from a few of their rivals.

The next few weeks will be incredibly determinant of the Canadiens’ NHL Draft Lottery outlook and their selection possibilities for the highly anticipated 2023 NHL Draft.

After a season of misery that has been plagued by injury and back luck, the Canadiens faithful could certainly use the silver lining that is a high draft pick.