The Atlantic Division teams took care of business on Monday, so it only makes sense that the division title was locked down. The Montreal Canadiens did just that tonight after beating the Florida Panthers 4-1.
The Canadiens are now at 46-24-9 with 101 points in 79 games after this, their fifth-consecutive win.
Artturi Lehkonen was the difference-maker in that win tonight, scoring consecutive goals as Montreal scored three unanswered tallies to finish off Florida.
The @CanadiensMTL (46-24-9, 101 points) clinched first place in the Atlantic Division, their third division title in the past five seasons. pic.twitter.com/KGaM4lDMOk
— NHL Public Relations (@PR_NHL) April 4, 2017
Now Claude Julien has an interesting opportunity.
With the Metro title winner virtually assured of the East’s top spot, Montreal doesn’t have much to gain (beyond pride) in winning its final three games. That would, then, be a good opportunity to rest players; perhaps heavy workload-type like Carey Price and Max Pacioretty could use a breather?
Whatever the case may be, the Canadiens bounced back from last season’s letdown in a big way, even after changing coaches. Next step: topping all of these accomplishments in the playoffs.