Welcome to rock bottom, Canadiens. And welcome to wherever the opposite place of that is, Blackhawks.
NHL scores: Blackhawks win their 12th straight as Canadiens continue to fade away
Both squads are flying hard in opposite directions.
Eric Bolte-USA TODAY Sports
No two teams in the NHL are headed in more polar opposite directions right now than the Montreal Canadiens and the Chicago Blackhawks. So, it was only fitting that both of them hit their extremes on the same night.
Remember when the Canadiens were 9-0-0 and the class of the NHL? They certainly don't seem to. Montreal's loss on Tuesday meant they fell to 4-16-1 in their last 21 games. For the first time all season, the Habs sit outside of the playoffs and three points back of third-place Tampa Bay in the Atlantic. Yes, that Tampa Bay. The same Lightning squad that has struggled to remain relevant all season.
As the Habs have faded, teams like the Panthers and Lightning have stepped up to fill their place. With Carey Price injured and no easy coaching decisions to make, there's not an easy fix here for the Habs.
Chicago, on the other hand, has nothing to fix. Everything has come together perfectly over the last month, culminating in a franchise record 12-straight wins after the Blackhawks’ victory on the road in Nashville on Tuesday. Patrick Kane scored his 30th goal and 71st point of the year. Timely scoring. Excellent goaltending.
Both things the Canadiens desperately need to reach the heights they used to roam that are now occupied by Chicago.
Scores
3 things we learned
1. Ryan Miller didn't get the result he deserved
The Canucks goalie put on a phenomenal performance in Madison Square Garden, batting aside 46 of the 49 shots he faced. The feat becomes more impressive when you realize that was the third game in a row that the Canucks have allowed more than 40 shots on goal. The difference? Vancouver managed to outscore their mistakes in their previous two wins. They couldn't do that Tuesday, and left Miller hanging with the loss.
2. Goalies should never leave their net
Wait, didn't we already learn that? Apparently NHL goalies still haven't gotten our memo, because Oilers goalie Anders Nilsson disregarded common sense and cost his team the game.
3. Washington’s power play is deadly efficient
The emergence of Evgeny Kuznetsov has elevated an already dangerous power play unit that leads the league with a 27.1 percent clip. It essentially has the power to turn games on a dime. It took a little more than 10 seconds into a four-minute power play for Alex Ovechkin to break the tie, and Nicklas Backstrom added one of his own a minute and a half later to give the Caps the comfortable lead they needed.
Impact Moment
*enter ghost emoji/bear emoji combo here*
Stat of the Night
Maybe Canadians just aren’t cut out for hockey?
#Habs fall to 4-16-1 in last 21. Every Canadian team now out of a playoff spot this late for first time since '69-70.
— Mike Harrington (@BNHarrington) January 20, 2016
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