The Canadiens know at the end of the year they’ll probably be jockeying with the Lightning for playoff positioning and, quite possibly, facing them in the postseason.
The Lightning know it, too.
Which is why tonight’s game has a certain amount of importance to it -- yes, even though it’s just two weeks into the regular season.
“Montreal has a really good team,” Bolts head coach Jon Cooper said, per the club website. “Last year was just a speedbump year for them. Marc [Bergevin, GM] has done a great job in retooling the whole team and Mike [Therrien, head coach] does a helluva job behind the bench.
“When teams play each other a couple times in the playoffs, there’s a budding rivalry. We missed each other last year, but I have a feeling the way things are going, we’re probably going to meet up again at some point.”
In 2014, the Bolts were swept by Montreal in the opening playoff round. A year later, Tampa Bay flipped the script by defeating the Habs in the second round, en route to the Stanley Cup Final.
As Cooper mentioned, last year was something of an aberration in Montreal. The Habs are certainly proving as much with their play to start this year.
At 6-0-1, they’re the NHL’s lone undefeated team in regulation. They currently sit first in the league in goals against, fourth in goals for, seventh on the penalty kill and 15th on the power play.
The man advantage is, obviously, the only unit not at or near the top of the league. But Shea Weber’s play has certainly made the PP more formidable -- two goals and an assist with the man advantage thus far -- and the group has found the back of the net in five of the last six games.
Speaking of the power play, let’s discuss the Lightning for a moment.
Tampa Bay has been annihilating opponents with the man advantage lately. The league’s third-best PP -- clicking at a 30 percent success rate -- has scored four times in the last two games. Jonathan Drouin is the leading power play scorer, with three points, but all the usual suspects are chipping in as well: Steve Stamkos, Alex Killorn Nikita Kucherov and Victor Hedman.
The Lightning are neck-and-neck with the Habs in the standings as well. They’re 5-1-0 to start the year, and are coming off consecutive wins over the Senators and Leafs.
So yeah. Tonight’s game should be a good one.