from Pat Hickey of the Montreal Gazette,

The loss of Carry Price and Brendan Gallagher have taken their toll. When Price was placed on the injured reserve list last November, there was no sense of panic. Mike Condon had filled in well when Price missed nine games in November and the mathematically inclined pointed out that the Canadiens had a cushion over their rivals and were assured of a playoff berth if they merely played .500 hockey for the rest of the season.

As the Canadiens head into Saturday’s game against the streaking Washington Capitals they are faced with a situation in which .500 hockey isn’t good enough.

If the Canadiens play .500 between now and the end of the season, they would finish with 89 points. The geeksters at sportsclubstats, say that total would give the Canadiens a 12.5 per cent chance of making the playoffs. That would need 97 points to reach 99.1 per cent and 100 points to be guaranteed a spot.

The biggest problem is that the Canadiens aren’t close to playing .500 hockey. Without Price, they have collected seven of a possible 26 points for a .269 winning percentage.

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