A year after making a late run to claim a wild-card spot in the Eastern Conference, the Montreal Canadiens are chasing their first division title in nearly a decade thanks to a well-timed winning streak.
The Canadiens attempt to earn a season-high seventh straight victory and inch closer to first place in the Atlantic Division on Thursday night when they visit the New York Rangers.
Montreal (43-21-10, 96 points) is two points behind the second-place Tampa Bay Lightning and four behind the Buffalo Sabres, over whom they have a game in hand. The Canadiens will face the Rangers at the same time as Buffalo visits the Ottawa Senators and the Lightning host the Pittsburgh Penguins.
Montreal’s winning streak has seen it halve an eight-point deficit in the division, and five games have been decided by at least two goals. The Canadiens are outscoring opponents 28-9 and the streak continued with Tuesday’s 4-1 win at Tampa Bay.
Cole Caufield scored the tiebreaking goal and is three away from producing Montreal’s first 50-goal season since Stephane Richer in 1989-90. Caufield has scored in three straight and has seven goals during the winning streak and 10 goals in his past 10 games.
Caufield’s latest goal occurred on a night when the Canadiens continued getting stellar goaltending from Jakub Dobes. Dobes made 37 saves for his fourth victory during Montreal’s winning streak and is 14-3-1 in his past 18 games.
“To get six in a row here, we’ve been building,” Caulfield said. “Not every one has been perfect, but we’ve found ways. Obviously goaltending has been a huge part of that, too. It’s obviously a good feeling, but we’re still hungry for more.”
“He looks in the zone right now,” Canadiens coach Martin St. Louis said of Dobes. “I see a confident guy who’s playing with some swagger. He looks big in net.”
Dobes was not in goal on Dec. 13 in a 5-4 overtime loss in New York when the Canadiens lost a three-goal lead and Jacob Fowler allowed J.T. Miller’s power-play goal 2:56 into overtime.
The Rangers (31-35-9, 71 points) are a respectable 9-6-3 in their past 18 games since the Olympic break and are attempting to tie a season-best with their fourth straight victory. After losing the final three games of a six-game skid by one goal, the Rangers outscored the Chicago Blackhawks, Florida Panthers and New Jersey Devils 13-3 during the first three games of a seven-game homestand.
On Tuesday, the Rangers earned a 4-1 win when Miller and Mika Zibanejad scored along with Conor Sheary and rookie Jaroslav Chmelar.
The game was highlighted by Igor Shesterkin making 22 saves and getting into a fight with New Jersey goalie Jacob Markstrom.
The win over New Jersey also gave the Rangers a season-high three straight home wins in a season when they are 12-18-7 at home and have been blanked seven times.
“We’re getting some new faces that are getting an opportunity and they’re playing really well and providing spark to our team,” Miller said. “And when you get a moment like Shesty (Shesterkin) has today for us it feels good. We want to keep playing and finish strong and have something to feel good about going into next season.”
The Rangers won in Montreal on Oct. 18 and can sweep the series with a win on home ice.
