Ahhh...Montréal and those damned Leafs...and Islanders, and Senators, and Rangers, ahh...

The Montreal Canadiens lost yesterday, I felt it in the air before the puck even dropped, it's inevitable, the Bleu, Blanc et Rouge colours just don't go well with the Scotiabank Place ice and with the evident home team, the Ottawa Senators.

Heading into last night's game, the Canadiens shakily held onto a spot in the Eastern Conference's top 8 teams, to be more precise, tied for 7th with the Tampa Bay Lightning who faced off against the Carolina Hurricanes, a team who's just come off a puzzling and embarrassing 5-1 loss to the lowly Philadelphia Flyers.
And yet, the Canadiens do not have a smooth surface to skate upon in the upcoming days, after a seemingly effortless 5-2 loss to the Scotiabank Place's team (come on, you know who...), a Tampa Bay 4-2 victory over the failing 'Canes and their inconsistent stoppers, who haven't stopped much lately, Le Canadien find themselves in a dogfight for the 8th and final playoff spot in the NHL's Eastern Conference and a difficult schedule to deal with.

Montreal's upcoming crucial games include stops in Madison Square Garden, a home decision in a few days against the eliminated Bruins, a final game showdown against versus the Leafs at the ACC that may decide who gets in and who doesn't and tonight at the Bell Centre, the Buffalo Sabres, who really want to play the Canadiens in the 1st round since they started Ty Conklin in goal... (!?)

On a good news side, the Islanders lost 6-4 to the Sabres Friday night, backup goalie Mike Dunham isn't getting the job done for the Islanders, who have lost Rick DiPietro indefinitely, as he allowed 5 straight goals in the first period alone.

The Leafs are playing the Penguins tonight on Hockey Night in Canada (what's new?), they sit one point behind the Canadiens...TONIGHT, I hope the Sens win against the Islanders, and hey, with the duo of Mike Dunham and Wade Dubielewicz, you can kiss Long Island's team out of a playoff spot; with any miracle, the Flyers will pull of another upset and beat the Rangers...

Updates to be posted later on tonight...it's 1-0 Buffalo now, 2-1 Rangers over the Flyers, 1-0 Penguins, and it's scoreless at Scotiabank Place in Ottawa with the Sens taking on the Islanders...