Montreal Clinches NHL Atlantic Division Crown

The NHL regular season comes to an end this week, and while the playoff picture is still unfolding, the Montreal Canadiens punched their ticket after beating the Florida Panthers 4-1 on April 3rd and winning the Atlantic Division title.

These two teams had reversals of fortunes from the 2015-16 season. Last year, Montreal started well but fell apart as the season wore on, due in no small part to the loss of goalie Carey Price to a knee injury. Montreal missed the playoffs last season. Price has been healthy this season and has a record of 37-18-5 (Price had the night off and backup Charlie Lindgren had a fine game in the win over Florida), and the Canadiens won the Atlantic. Last year, Florida won the Atlantic with 103 points, but this year the Panthers have only 77 with three games remaining, and have been eliminated from qualifying for the post season.

In the other division races, Washington is close to clinching the Metropolitan. The Capitals have a five point lead over Pittsburgh and a five point lead over Columbus. Over in the Western Conference, the Chicago Blackhawks have clinched the Central Division, while Anaheim has a two point lead over Edmonton and a four point lead over San Jose in the Pacific Division.

The Stanley Cup Playoffs begin April 12th.