Northeast Division: Habs hanging on with shaky grip

Price

The Montreal Canadiens are clinging to a playoff berth by the weakest of handles and their hold on the seventh seed has listened as well after a loss to the New York Rangers last night.

Carey Price’s miscue with the puck helped the Rangers prevail, 3-1. Pat Hickey of the Montreal Gazette has the complete story.

Hickey also expresses the frustration we’re all dealing with as teams handle injury reports like nuclear launch codes.

MK: Luckily for Montreal, Florida’s loss makes it really tough for the Panthers to crack the top eight. But with Andrei Markov and Mathieu Schneider likely out a while, the Boston Bruins should want to face the Habs in the first round.

Elsewhere in the division:

•Buffalo has been as inconsistent as a team can be.

•Recently signed rookie Christian Hanson scored his first NHL goal for Toronto.