With one game left in the National Hockey League season, the Canadiens know who they will be facing in the playoffs. But where Game 1 will be is still up in the air.
The Buffalo Sabres clinched the Atlantic Division Monday with a 5-1 win over the Chicago Blackhawks. That means they will face a wild-card team — either the Boston Bruins or Ottawa Senators — and the Canadiens and Tampa Bay Lightning will face each other.
Montreal and Tampa are both at 106 points with one game left, but Tampa has the tiebreaker and currently sits second. Montreal needs to finish with more points to gain home-ice advantage for the first round.
The Canadiens play the Flyers Tuesday in Philadelphia (7 p.m., TSN2, RDS), after which the Lightning host the New York Rangers on Wednesday.
The last time Montreal met Tampa in the playoffs was in the 2021 Stanley Cup Final, when the COVID-19 pandemic led to a temporary reshuffling of the NHL’s divisions. The Canadiens lost that series in five games.
The Canadiens and Lightning split their four games against each other this season, with one of Tampa’s wins coming in the shootout.