The Edmonton Oilers are in the precarious position of being a team with nowhere to go. They can’t possibly catch the Toronto Maple Leafs for first place in the NHL’s North Division, and they can’t possibly plummet to third place. They are locked into the #2 spot, with a question remaining as to who they’re going to play.

The Montreal Canadiens, however, would absolutely love to move up. They would love to be the team that gets to play Edmonton in the first round of playoff action. But they have to overtake the Winnipeg Jets to do it.

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However, the Habs will likely have to make a sweep of their two remaining games, starting with Monday night’s contest against the Oilers, which begins at 7:08 PM ET at their own Bell Centre.

Does Montreal’s desperation give us the necessary components for a Monday winner?

Let’s discuss.

Here’s the setup:

Edmonton Oilers vs. Montreal Canadiens Preview

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When: 7:08 PM ET (Monday)

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Money Line: Canadiens -120 / Oilers +100

Total: Under 6.5 Goals (-125) / Over 6.5 Goals (+105)

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So we look at a situation where Montreal is at 57 points, two behind Winnipeg. The Canadiens have two games left and blew a golden opportunity with their 3-2 loss to Toronto on Saturday night.

Now they have to finish ahead of the Jets, who have a game in hand. Winnipeg owns the tie-breaker for the #3 position, as they have beaten Montreal in six of nine meetings.

The Canadiens would dread having to face Toronto in the first round, as the Leafs have defeated them seven out of ten times. But a first-round series against Edmonton would have given them a fighting chance, based on the regular season results, in which the Habs have actually had a 5-2 edge.

It’s actually pretty incredible that they could hold a team with Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl to just 14 goals in seven games. But that has been the case.

That is, it has been the case mostly due to the presence of Carey Price in goal. Price has started and finished three games against the Oilers, and in those games he stopped 72 of 75 shots, while the Habs did a great defensive job against Edmonton’s dynamic duo. But in his April 19 start against the Oilers, the former MVP and Vezina Trophy winner suffered a concussion and has been out since, with no timetable set for his return.

Jake Allen has put up similar overall numbers to Price, but he has allowed ten goals against the Oilers.

There had been some concern that the combination of McDavid and Draisaitl on the same line was bringing their scoring efficiency numbers down. And there were analytics backing that up. Dave Tippett has since split them up to anchor different lines.

And McDavid has been on a recent tear as he has reached the 100-point mark in only 53 games. He has, in fact. tallied 29 points in his last ten contests.

And it should be mentioned that he assisted on a goal Draisaitl scored that gave him 500 points for his career.

It should also be mentioned that McDavid has only two goals and six assists in seven games against the Canadiens. And Draisaitl, who is also having a tremendous season, has no goals and three assists in those games.

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Montreal has a big, physical backline that appears to give the Oilers trouble. So this is perhaps a style problem for Edmonton. That may motivate these Oilers to do what they can to keep the Habs at #4, as they would probably rather face Winnipeg in the first round.

But that doesn’t necessarily sway us. If the Canadiens can get physical with the two superstars, they may be able to exploit the lack of scoring depth on the Oilers. So this will be a meaningful “last stand.”

The Play: MONTREAL (-120)