The red-hot Montreal Canadiens and the Washington Capitals post-Alex Ovechkin goals record are featured on this week's episode of the "NHL @TheRink" podcast presented by SKIP.
Jean-Francois Chaumont, who covers the Canadiens as the senior writer for LNH.com, NHL.com's French edition, joins co-hosts Dan Rosen and Shawn P. Roarke to discuss the Canadiens rise to prominence as a likely Stanley Cup Playoff team.
Montreal, which has won six straight games, the longest current streak in the NHL, has an eight-point lead on the New York Rangers for the second wild card into the Stanley Cup Playoffs from the Eastern Conference. As of now, it can clinch a playoff berth as soon as Thursday.
Chaumont discusses with Roarke and Rosen how the Canadiens have done it, pointing out that they're 25-13-6 since Dec. 28. He talks about how the city is buzzing with Habs' fever, especially with players such as forwards Nick Suzuki, Cole Caufield and Juraj Slafkovsky, defenseman Lane Hutson and goalie Sam Montembeault growing up as NHL players in Montreal.
Chaumont praises the job done by coach Martin St. Louis, gives examples of how Hutson's defensive game has improved in the past six weeks and talks about forward Ivan Demidov and the impact he could make when he arrives in Montreal.
Demidov, the No. 5 pick in the 2024 NHL Draft, signed his three year entry-level contract with the Canadiens on Tuesday.
In addition, Rosen and Roarke discuss Alex Ovechkin setting the NHL all-time goals record by scoring his 895th on Sunday. Rosen has been saying all season Ovechkin would do it this season. Roarke has been the detractor, but he eats his words in this episode.
But are there concerns about the Capitals, who have five games to play before the playoffs begin? Yes, both co-hosts say. Why? You have to listen to the podcast to find out.
They talk about the most disappointing team of this season, debating which team that is, and break down the race for the NHL scoring title this season between Tampa Bay Lightning foward Nikita Kucherov and Colorado Avalanche center Nathan MacKinnon.
The "NHL @TheRink" podcast presented by SKIP is free and listeners can subscribe on all podcast platforms. It is also available on NHL.com/multimedia/podcasts and the NHL app.
