Montreal pegged as dark horse

The Montreal Canadiens are getting picked as a plausible playoff dark horse because their top scorers are established and their goaltending looks steadier than it did a year ago. (youtube.com) Nick Suzuki has developed into Montreal’s first-line center and captain, and Cole Caufield remains the club’s most dangerous finisher on the wing. Those two are the names analysts keep putting at the center of any Canadiens playoff case. (youtube.com) The goaltending argument starts with Sam Montembeault, who has moved from tandem option to the team’s clearest No. 1 starter over the past two seasons. Montreal also added more experience behind him, giving the club a safer floor if injuries or cold stretches hit. (wikipedia.org) That combination matters in the National Hockey League’s Eastern Conference, where the gap between a wild-card team and a lottery team is often a short losing streak. A club with one reliable scoring line and competent goaltending can stay in the race deep into March and April. (nhl.com) Montreal’s case is not built on star power alone. The Canadiens have spent the past few seasons moving from a rebuild toward a younger core that also includes Juraj Slafkovsky on the wing and defenseman Lane Hutson pushing the puck from the back end. (wikipedia.org) The counterargument is simple: Montreal still has to prove it can defend consistently enough over 82 games. Dark-horse labels usually mean a team is credible, not favored, and the Canadiens are still trying to jump clubs with deeper blue lines and longer playoff résumés. (youtube.com) That is why the Canadiens keep showing up in preview conversations instead of contender tiers. If Suzuki and Caufield drive the offense and Montembeault holds the net, Montreal has a path to matter late in the season. (youtube.com)