While the Montreal Canadiens have done a pretty good job of staying in the playoff race since the start of the season, when you look at points total, sooner rather than later, they’ll have to start looking at how they win their games.

When everyone has played 82 games, if two teams have the same number of points, the first tiebreaker is regulation wins. Right now, the Canadiens have won 20 games this season, but only 13 of them were won in regulation.

In the Atlantic Division, only the Toronto Maple Leafs ,  the Boston Bruins ,and  the Buffalo Sabres   have fewer regulation wins than the Habs (12).    The Ottawa Senators have 13, and the rest of the teams battling for a playoff spot all have more regulation wins than the Habs: the Florida Panthers 17, the Detroit Red Wings 16, and the Tampa Bay Lightning 17.

The Canadiens have a lot of ground to make up, despite hanging with the big boys when it comes to points. Winning games in overtime and in the shootout may be spectacular and mean the fans get a good show, but at the end of the day, that’s not what matters. What matters is not only putting points on the board, but beating your opponent in the 60 minutes a match is supposed to last.

Once you get in the playoffs, though, that’s when being able to win in crunch time really matters. That’s where you get endless games that are not worth two points; they are each worth a W, one of the 16 you need to claim Lord Stanley’s Cup. Until the Spring dance starts, though, emphasis has to be on winning games as quickly and efficiently as possible. Perhaps that could be the Habs’ collective New Year’s resolution.

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