from Mike Boone of Hockey Inside/Out,

As it is, the team is coping – and coping badly – with the expectations engendered by their consistent play through the first five months of the regular season. The Canadiens won eight games in October, November, December and January. In February, they won nine.

But the Canadiens slipped to six wins – against six regulation losses and three overtime losses – in March.

And they’re 0-for-April, having lost in shootouts to Washington – no disgrace there – on Friday night and, embarrassingly, to New Jersey on Saturday.

My man Frankie Gagnon offered this grim stat on L’Antichambre, after the Canadiens’ loss to the woeful Devils:

Since Feb. 26, the Canadiens have played 19 games. They’ve won eight, and here’s the bad news: Only one of those wins was against a team currently in position to make the playoffs....

Regardless of whom the Canadiens face in the first-round, here’s a fearless prediction:

Unless this team solves its late-season problems, the Canadiens are not going to be playing hockey in the merry month of May.

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