PHILADELPHIA — This wasn’t the end the Montreal Canadiens were looking for, but this isn’t really the end, anyway.
This 4-2 loss to the Philadelphia Flyers in Game 82 was what it was, and it hardly put a damper on their 106-point season.
Were the Canadiens hoping to apply some pressure on their first-round playoff opponents to fight for home ice in their final game Wednesday? Sure.
But they didn’t get it done, and now the Tampa Bay Lightning can rest their players against the New York Rangers — and rest easy in their own beds before this series gets underway over the weekend.
Again, not what the Canadiens were hoping for.
But had they felt it imperative to beat the Flyers and push the Lightning out of their comfort zone, they’d have not rested Mike Matheson, Josh Anderson and Phillip Danault for Tuesday’s game.
“The Hockey Gods want us starting on the road,” said coach Martin St. Louis, “and that’s what we’ll do.”
The road has been good to the Canadiens so far, with Tuesday’s loss just their ninth in regulation in a visiting building.
Only the Colorado Avalanche had a better road record than Montreal’s 24-9-8.
Another positive: one of those Canadiens wins came over the Lightning at Benchmark International Arena.
That’ll be fresh in their minds next time they’re there, with confidence bolstered by a season that saw them earn 15 more points in the standings than they collected one year ago.
The Canadiens squeaked into the playoffs then and were quickly dispatched by the Washington Capitals.
But this team isn’t that one.
The players at the core may be the same, but they’ve evolved into something else.
Nick Suzuki is now a 101-point player in line to win his first-ever Selke Trophy as the league’s best defensive forward. Cole Caufield is a 51-goal scorer who will only be topped in the Rocket Richard Trophy race by the great Nathan MacKinnon (52 goals and counting).
Lane Hutson, who took the Calder Trophy as rookie of the year last season, put in a performance that’s likely to land him among the top five vote getters for the Norris Trophy, which goes to the league’s best defenceman. Juraj Slafkovsky emerged as one of the game’s best power forwards, with 30 goals and 73 points added to the overwhelming evidence he provided in an all-star performance at the Olympics.
And then there’s Ivan Demidov (62 points), Oliver Kapanen (22 goals) and Jakub Dobes (seventh place in goals saved above expected), who showed glimpses of high potential in limited action last season before showing so much more this season to place themselves near the top of the NHL’s rookie class.
“I think we’ve grown a ton individually and as a group just learning to win in this league and what it takes to win each game,” said Suzuki. “It’s tough, teams are really good, and I think as players and as a team we’ve gotten so much better. Our team game is really tough to play against.”
Perhaps not on this night, but certainly on most others since the puck dropped in October.
But this night wasn’t the most important one of the season.
Even if it was relatively crucial for some members of the Canadiens.
The ones we’re referring to are likely to be watching Game 1 of the series against Tampa.
Brendan Gallagher had watched four straight games from the press box, but he scored on Tuesday and showed he can offer the Canadiens something they’re not guaranteed to get from certain players who’ll likely get the nod ahead of him to start the playoffs.
“When I saw I was playing with him, I knew what we were getting tonight,” said linemate Jake Evans. “He’s just a true competitor and a great teammate, and when he gets on the ice wearing that jersey, he’s giving it his all, and he did that again tonight.”
You couldn’t say the same about Kirby Dach nor Alex Texier.
But if lineup decisions for Game 1 of the playoffs were purely based on Game 82 of the regular season, one of Adam Engstrom or David Reinbacher would be more likely playing than warming press-box seats next to Gallagher.
“They’re great,” said Evans. “They had a lot of confidence. As new guys coming into the league you can shy away, but I felt they didn’t.”
Arber Xhekaj isn’t new, but whatever hesitance he’s exhibited at times this season — as he was entrenched in a constant battle for a spot in the lineup and more ice-time — fell away with Engstrom and Reinbacher pushing him from behind. He’s built up his confidence, and Tuesday’s game showed it.
Xhekaj finished with an assist, five shot attempts, and five punishing hits.
“I wouldn’t want to go against him in the corners. Especially in a seven-game series,” said Evans. “When he’s playing his game, he’s got really good gaps, he’s in your face, and he does not let any of the forwards move around much.”
If Xhekaj, Jayden Struble and Kaiden Guhle can all do that, it’ll help the Canadiens overcome the loss of Noah Dobson at one end of the ice.
Alex Carrier returning from an upper-body injury suffered March 29 will help as well. He was supposed to miss two to four weeks, but it’s looking like it’ll be closer to two than four.
Matheson and Hutson must be at their best to supplant what Dobson brings offensively, and you can expect they will be.
Even after this loss to the Flyers, you can also expect the Canadiens to be ready for the Lightning.
St. Louis knows they will be.
“Just our season, our process, the quality people we have, the quality players,” he said. “We’re able to adjust and adapt and I feel there’s not one style of game that we can’t play. I don’t know, I just feel like, ‘Let’s go.’”