It was hardly a classic effort but with their 3-2 win over the Columbus Blue Jackets the Canadiens at least ended their four game losing streak and gave the Eastern Conference wild card race a shaking up.

The win elevated the Canadiens into the first wild card berth while the Blue Jacket loss, combined with a Pittsburgh win moved the Penguins to third in the Metro division and dropped Columbus to the second wild card spot two points behind the Canadiens At the same time, potential party crashers Carolina, Philadelphia and Buffalo all lost their games.

With twenty-two games remaining, consider this shuffle as a preview of what is likely to be happen on a near-nightly basis surrounding the Canadiens struggle for a playoff berth.

The Canadiens have hit the skids at the worst possible time.

Their 6-3 loss at Sunrise Florida Sunday night was their 4th in a row and third straight in regulation time during a road trip that saw them outscored 12-4. Only a week ago the Canadiens were in third place in the Atlantic Division and there was discussion of a first round playoff meeting between the Canadiens and Toronto. Since then the Canadiens have fallen to the second wild card berth (eighth in the Eastern Conference) and are now only one point away from being pushed right out of the playoff picture by the Carolina Hurricanes who have won three in a row and eight of their last ten games.

There were two things that paving the way to the Canadiens 3-0 loss at Tampa Bay Saturday night.

Just past the game’s mid point Brendan Gallagher set up Bret Kulak for what seemed to be a 1-0 Canadiens lead only to have the goal erased on a coaches challenge that found Jesperi Kotkaniemi a fraction of an inch off-side.

Then in the third period’s first minute of a still goal-less game, as if the league’s best power play needed it, Phillip Danault was handed a phantom two-minute hooking penalty. With that advantage Nikita Kucherov scored what turned out to be the game’s winning goal.

Not that the ultimate result would have been any different but the two events proved to be pivotal. The Lightning scored their second goal 1:25 later and the Canadiens offense disappeared the rest of the night.

It’s always a matter of talent.

Sometimes hard work can overcome a talent deficit. In Nashville it wasn’t to be.

Carey Price kept the Canadiens in the game through a scoreless first period. In the second period they shook off whatever rust they seem to have accumulated in their four days off but couldn’t score on any of their 21 shots and 11 high danger scoring chances.

Two of the Canadiens mistakes wound up in the net; Jonathan Drouin on the first goal and Jordie Benn on the game clincher and Nashville ended a three game losing streak with a 3-1 victory.

One thing we’ve learned since early in the New Year: the Canadiens are not an easy out.

Once Montreal fans get over the disappointment of an overtime loss to the Toronto Maple Leafs will be able to look at the bigger picture.

The Canadiens just completed a five game home-stand in which they picked up eight of a possible ten points (3-0-2). And they have taken three of four points in the first two games of arguably their toughest four game stretch of the season, with next week’s games in Nashville and Tampa yet to come.

Who saw this coming?

It was a total takedown of one of the three or four teams predicted to be in June’s Stanley Cup final. The Winnipeg Jets scored the first and last goals of the game. Between them the Canadiens scored five time, piled up 53 shots on goal and owned the Jets on the game’s every meaningful level.

Game analytics confirm what was there for all to see. According to naturalstattrick.com the Canadiens had the puck 60% of the game. Of their 32 scoring chances, 18 were listed as high-danger compared to only 6 from the Jets.

With knowledge of Anaheim’s performance during their current road trip and their status in the league standings, what happened Tuesday night at the Bell Centre was hardly surprising. The Canadiens ran up a 3-0 first period lead and coasted home with a barely contested 4-1 victory.

Off their seventh win in the last nine games the Canadiens have now won thirty this season. Last season their win total was twenty-nine. They are one point short of equaling last season’s 67 points with twenty-eight games remaining.

Forgive me for repeating an oft-told tale.

The injury plagued New Jersey Devils come to Montreal to play the Canadiens as decided underdogs. They fall behind a dominant Canadiens effort but manage to hang around on the scoreboard only to take advantage of a couple of late defensive breakdowns to steal a win.

It’s always something when the Devils come to Montreal.  

I suppose it’s “the glass half-empty” side of me that makes me want to first mention the fact that the Canadiens 2-1 win over Arizona Wednesday night put seven points between themselves and the seventh place Buffalo Sabres in the Eastern Conference rather than the fact that, as they head into the All-Star break the Canadiens moved out of the wild card race and into third place in the Atlantic Division. That reaction is probably the residue of the diminished expectations for the team back in October.

Was it the two games in twenty-four hours? Or the four games in six nights. Maybe it was the eight games in 13 days including three sets of back-to-back with travel between? Or perhaps a combination of all of those things that cau

sed the Canadiens to run out of gas after a dominant first period against Philadelphia Saturday night. Problem was the Canadiens didn’t score on any of their multiple first period chances and they became sitting ducks for the Flyers late in the second period. End of the four game winning streak, but one of those games in a long schedule that a team can rationalize and quickly forget.