Canadiens complete perfect road trip, earn opportunity to do special things at home

NEWARK, N.J. -- It's only been four years since the Montreal Canadiens finished the 2021-22 season with 55 points, their lowest total since 1947-48, when an uninterrupted NHL season was only 60 games long. The Canadiens hit the 100-point mark this season with a far-from-perfect 4-3 shootout win against the New Jersey Devils on Saturday, a game they led 3-0 before letting the Devils all the way back into it. It was the Canadiens' eighth straight win, something they have not done for a decade, and it allowed them to pull even in points with the Buffalo Sabres in the Atlantic Division standings with a game in hand. Elsewhere around the Eastern Conference, the four teams tied for the final wild-card spot all lost in regulation, as did the New York Islanders, who, with 89 points, are one point up on those four teams. And the Washington Capitals, who smoked the Sabres 6-2 at home Saturday, have 87. The Canadiens are not part of that wild-card conversation. They removed themselves from it by completing a road trip with five wins in eight days despite not having their fastball in the last two games, against the New York Rangers and the Devils. It's a testament to how far the Canadiens have come since putting up their lowest point total in 74 years. Losing to the Devils would have been easily explained away by fatigue, but they eliminated the excuse. "I mean, when you're on the road for 10 days, every day just blends in together," captain Nick Suzuki said. "It feels like Nashville was a long time ago, and I think just the way we were able to just find ways to win, even though we didn't really have our best games, it's a testament to all the guys in here to just stick with it. We didn't collapse." The Canadiens returned home after the game and will face the Devils again on Sunday evening in an electric atmosphere. Cole Caufield entered the game one goal short of 50 and now has an opportunity with four consecutive home games to reach that milestone in front of his fans. Juraj Slafkovský remains one goal short of 30, Suzuki is five points short of 100 and Lane Hutson is six points short of 80. All of those marks could be accomplished over this final homestand of the season. "They're going to be excited for sure, I imagine, and we're going to be pretty excited to go back home," said Hutson, who scored his 12th goal of the season against the Devils. "But we knew how important this trip was and how it had to be pretty business-like, but it's going to be pretty rewarding to come back home and play in front of the best fans." Over the past few years, the Canadiens had to find positives in losses, and it was often Suzuki who was asked to explain them as the captain and face of the team. It is a refreshing change for him to look for negatives after wins, as he did Thursday in New York and Saturday in New Jersey. The Canadiens were not the best version of themselves in either game, yet won both. "We probably lose those games the last few years, just get up 3-0 and all of a sudden it's a one-goal game and you're on your heels," Suzuki said. "They had a really big push in the third period and we just stuck with it, even though we didn't have our best game." Rookie goaltender Jakub Dobeš is the biggest reason that happened, with 35 saves to earn his 26th win of the season. Only Ken Dryden had more as a rookie for the Canadiens since the 1967 NHL expansion. Oliver Kapanen, another rookie, scored the winning goal in the fifth round of the shootout. And another rookie, Ivan Demidov, scored in regulation to notch his 60th point of the season, then again in the shootout. None of those rookies were around for the darkness of that 55-point season that allowed the Canadiens to draft Slafkovský at No. 1. But Suzuki's been here for all of it, and throughout that time, he has dreamed of being able to talk about wins more often than he has had to explain losses. "It's pretty remarkable," Suzuki said. "I think just the amount of young guys that we have, how they've grown; they've been able to win us games. The goaltending's been awesome. Our rookies have been really good. And guys that have been here just keep getting better with our system. I think our coaching staff's been better as we grow together, so it's pretty cool to be in this experience so fast. "When we got into this rebuild, it felt like it might take a while, but it's pretty fun right now." A year ago, the Canadiens were in that conversation for the final wild card. Much like the teams in that fight this year, they started losing as soon as they got close enough to clinching a spot that they could taste it. They've grown from that experience and are now in an entirely different fight. This one aims much higher, which Suzuki noted after the imperfect win in New York. "I think we can still get first place in the East, technically," Suzuki said Thursday. "So, that's kind of my mission." The Canadiens will lose a game at some point. If they play the way they've played the last two games -- justifiable, considering their loaded schedule -- it could happen soon. But even if they don't achieve Suzuki's mission of winning the East, or even winning the division, or even gaining home-ice advantage in the first round, they have reached a place that Martin St. Louis has aimed at ever since he began coaching this team four years and two months ago. After Saturday's imperfect performance, St. Louis did not have to hammer the message home to his players. "No, I don't think it's concerning because the guys know," he said. "If the guys didn't know and I had to address that, that's when you're concerned.