http://bit.ly/fa8OCs

Well, after Saturday afternoon's impressive 3-0 win in Pittsburgh where a shell of a defence did a hell of a job defensively, the Canadiens have played themselves into a situation where – for the first time in three seasons of doing this exercise – the Morning Playoff Check-up will be looking upwards, rather than downwards.
The victory Saturday allowed the Canadiens to remain in the lead peloton of six teams in the Eastern Conference, 11 points clear of ninth-place Carolina and seven points clear of the seventh-place Rangers.
That means for the first time since that magical, power play-driven mirage of a first place finish in the conference three years ago, the Canadiens likely won't need to scratch and claw their way into the playoffs.
It's a pretty remarkable state of affairs, considering everything the team has gone through, and I don't only mean the injuries.
Mike Cammalleri having a two-point game Saturday is an encouraging sign, but his production still has no chance of coming anywhere near the expectations created by his tremendous playoff run last season. Brian Gionta is on pace for 29 goals, which would be one better than last season, except with 20 extra games played. And I don't think I need to go into the Scott Gomez situation for you.
Basically, the Canadiens are doing it by committee, with different people coming to the foreground at various points in the season with the lone constant shining night after night. And that's Carey Price.
The talk that's starting to percolate of Price being a Hart Trophy candidate has some serious merit, because not only is he by far the biggest reason the Canadiens find themselves in a playoff spot, the team might actually play its opening playoff game at home because of him.

It's going to be a fun stretch run. The keys to the Habs' playoffs fortunes hinge on the crucial head-to-heads remaining with the teams that they are chasing. If they can beat Boston on the 24th, they may yet catch up and take the division. If they can beat the Caps and/or Lightning, they bolster their position there. The biggest ones, IMHO, are Boston and the two with the Caps. They must beat Boston if they hope for a division crown, and the two games with Washington will determine whether it's a top-four or a sixth. It's always interesting. :)