The Montreal Canadiens will clinch a playoff berth if they defeat the Ottawa Senators in regulation (7 p.m. ET; RDS, SNE, SNO, SNW). With a win in regulation, the Canadiens (39-30-9) can clinch a berth in the Stanley Cup Playoffs for the first time since the 2020-21 season, when they lost in the Cup Final to the Tampa Bay Lightning. They can also gain ground on the Senators in the race for the first wild card into the playoffs from the Eastern Conference; they are three points behind Ottawa (42-30-6), which has already clinched a playoff berth. The Canadiens enter tonight’s game red-hot, riding a six-game winning streak.
The Senators start the week off with their final game of their four-game season series against the Montreal Canadiens. After going 0-3 in their three prior meetings this season, the Senators will be looking to avoid a season sweep this season. It will be a motivated Canadiens team taking to the ice as they continue a playoff push of their own. Both the Senators and Canadiens are 6-3-1 in their last 10 games. The rivalry between the Senators and Canadiens never fails to entertain, and this game should be no different.
Tkachuk on postseason readiness
”I need to make sure I'm ready physically, because mentally I've been waiting for this moment, but I'm not worried about that."
If playoffs started Friday in the Eastern Conference
(1A) Toronto Maple Leafs vs. (WC1) Ottawa Senators
(2A) Tampa Bay Lightning vs. (3A) Florida Panthers
(1M) Washington Capitals vs. (WC2) Montreal Canadiens
(2M) Carolina Hurricanes vs. (3M) New Jersey Devils
Projected Lineups
Montreal Canadiens
Cole Caufield -- Nick Suzuki -- Juraj Slafkovsky
Oliver Kapanen -- Alex Newhook -- Patrik Laine
Josh Anderson -- Christian Dvorak -- Brendan Gallagher
Michael Pezzetta -- Jake Evans -- Joel Armia
Mike Matheson -- Alexandre Carrier
Kaiden Guhle -- Lane Hutson
Jayden Struble -- David Savard
Sam Montembeault
Jakub Dobes
Scratched: Joshua Roy, Arber Xhekaj, Ivan Demidov
Injured: Emil Heineman (undisclosed)
Ottawa Senators
Claude Giroux -- Tim Stutzle -- Fabian Zetterlund
David Perron -- Dylan Cozens -- Drake Batherson
Ridly Greig -- Shane Pinto -- Michael Amadio
Matthew Highmore -- Adam Gaudette -- Angus Crookshank
Jake Sanderson -- Artem Zub
Thomas Chabot -- Nick Jensen
Tyler Kleven -- Nikolas Matinpalo
Linus Ullmark
Anton Forsberg
Scratched: Dennis Gilbert, Travis Hamonic
Injured: Nick Cousins (knee), Brady Tkachuk (upper body)
Players to Watch
Montreal — Nick Suzuki has 9 points in his previous 5 contests.
Ottawa — Angus Crookshank — the 25 year old has yet to score a point on the main roster this season; after having 2 goals and a helper last year.
Predicted Final Score
MTL — 3
OTT — 4
Overtime
More to come…
Ottawa Senators Blogger • 
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