The Chronicle Herald (Provincial)
Canadiens get much-needed break
Habs-leafs series starts Thursday in Toronto
The Montreal Canadiens can certainly use a rest and they will now get one.
The Canadiens wrapped up their NHL regular season with a 4-3 overtime loss to the Edmonton Oilers on Wednesday night at the Bell Centre. It was the 25th game in 44 days for the Canadiens in this crazy, condensed 56-game season because of COVID-19 and they finished on a five-game losing streak (0-3-2).
The Canadiens earned the fourth and final playoff spot in the all-canadian North Division with a 24-21-11 record and will face the firstplace Toronto Maple Leafs (35-13-7) in the first round of the post-season. The NHL released the first-round schedule on Thursday and Game 1 of the Canadiens-leafs division semifinal series won’t be played until Thursday, May 20, in Toronto. Game 2, also in Toronto, will be played on Saturday, May 22.
After that, the series will shift to Montreal for Game 3 on Monday, May 24 and Game 4 on Tuesday, May 25.
Game 5 (if necessary) is slated for Thursday, May 27 in Toronto, Game 6 would be on Saturday, May 29 in Montreal, and Game 7 would be on Monday, May 31 in Toronto.
The first NHL playoff game of the year will be this Saturday when the Boston Bruins visit the Washington Capitals for Game 1 of their East Division semifinal series.
The Pittsburgh Penguins and New York Islanders will play Game 1 of their East Division series on Sunday afternoon in Pittsburgh, followed by Game 1 of a Central Division series between the Tampa Bay Lightning and the Panthers on Sunday night in Florida.
The second Central Division series between the Carolina Hurricanes and Nashville Predators will start next Monday in Raleigh.
The second North Division semifinal series between the Oilers and Winnipeg Jets will begin next Wednesday in Edmonton. The West Division matchups have yet to be finalized.
The Canadiens can use the long break in the schedule to give injured players Carey Price (concussion), Brendan Gallagher (fractured thumb), Shea Weber (upper body) and Phillip Danault (concussion) more time to heal. Head coach Dominique Ducharme said he expects all those players to be ready to play when the playoffs begin. Jonathan Drouin, who left the team indefinitely last month for personal reasons, is not expected to return.
This marks the first time the Canadiens and Maple Leafs will meet in the playoffs since 1979, when Montreal swept their first round series en route to a fourth straight Stanley Cup.
“I think the last time we played the Leafs was in ’79, right?” Ducharme said after Wednesday’s game. “I was born in ’73, so I was not that old. I was only six, so I don’t quite remember that series. I know it was pretty quick and it was a 4-0 win, I think. And then after that (the Leafs) were playing in the Western Conference. I never really lived a Montreal and Toronto playoff run.”
He’s about to live one now.