Oilers, Canadiens carry hope into break

EDMONTON--Two teams with rough starts to the 2017-18 season arrived at the NHL's three-day Christmas break with hope.
The Edmonton Oilers and Montreal Canadiens, predicted by many at the start of the season to be championship contenders, each has 36 points after 36 games, which seems like progress considering what has happened to this point.

With their
4-1 victory against the Canadiens
at Rogers Place on Saturday, the Oilers have a season-best four-game winning streak.
Edmonton finished second in the Pacific Division with 103 points and reached the Western Conference Second Round last season, but got off to a 7-12-2 start this season.

A 10-5-0 run in their past 15 games has moved the Oilers to 17-17-2, leaving them six points behind the third-place San Jose Sharks in the Pacific Division and four behind the Anaheim Ducks, who hold the second wild card into the playoffs from the Western Conference.
The Canadiens, who won the Atlantic Division with 103 points last season, are 16-16-4 at the break. They were 1-6-1 after a 6-2 loss against the Anaheim Ducks on Oct. 20 and then were without goalie Carey Price for 10 games from Nov. 4-22.
In its past 13 games, the Canadiens are 8-4-1 and have clawed back into the Eastern Conference playoff picture. They're fourth in the Atlantic Division, seven points behind the third-place Boston Bruins and six points behind the New York Islanders, who hold the second wild card into the playoffs from the Eastern Conference.
A big reason for Edmonton's renewed hope is goalie Cam Talbot, who missed seven games between Nov. 30 and Dec. 14 because of an upper-body injury.
In four games since returning from his injury Dec. 16, he's 4-0-0 with a 2.00 goals-against average and .932 save percentage, and he's won seven straight dating to before he was hurt.
"It says we're a resilient group," Talbot said about the Oilers winning streak. "We could have folded our hand after we got down and everyone said we have no chance of making the playoffs and counted us out. We still believed in this room and obviously (17-17-2) isn't where we want to be but it'll be a good (place) to start after the break."

If the Oilers can match their pace of the past 15 games (10-5-0), winning two of every three games, for the final 46 of the season, they would reach 97 points.
It will be no easy task, but there is opportunity given that 23 of Edmonton's remaining 46 games are against Pacific Division teams.
"You can see the team's coming together just like we were playing last year," Talbot said. "So I don't see any reasons why we can't put together streaks like this the rest of the way.
"The way that the guys are coming together now, the balance we have throughout the lineup, I think is key. You can't really focus on one of our lines because another one's just going to hurt you."
He pointed to the return of veteran defenseman Adam Larsson (eight games, upper-body injury) and Andrej Sekera (34 games, knee injury) in the last week as key for Edmonton's stability.
Larsson returned Monday in a 5-3 win against the San Jose Sharks and Sekera returned Thursday in a 3-2 win against the St. Louis Blues.
"I actually felt the difference in the group when I came back," Larsson said. "We're doing a lot more better things out there. Sometimes you just need one thing to get fixed and the other things will take care of themselves. It's small adjustments and it's got us on a roll.
"And to get winning at home like we've done now (three in a row), well, that's something that was important last year. To get the fans into it too, they'll appreciate and it makes a difference."
Montreal is 2-2-0 on its current seven-game stretch away from home that started with a 3-0 loss against the Ottawa Senators in the 2017 Scotiabank NHL100 Classic on Dec. 16 and continues after the break at the Carolina Hurricanes on Wednesday (7 p.m. ET; FS-CR, RDS, TSN2, NHL.TV).
The Canadiens won two of their three games (2-1-0) in Western Canada, defeating the Vancouver Canucks 7-5 on Tuesday and the Calgary Flames 3-2 on Friday.
"I think at the start of the road trip we weren't happy with our effort in Ottawa," forward Brendan Gallagher said. "We responded, got better in Vancouver and in Calgary I thought we played one of our best games of the year.

"[Saturday], I thought we battled and competed but we were playing a good hockey team and we had some key mistakes at certain times. But we had our chances. It's nothing to hang our heads about, the effort. We just want to get better results."
If the Canadiens can maintain their pace of the past 13 games (8-4-1) through their final 46 games, they would finish with 96 points, a number that should keep them in the playoff conversation.
Price, who did not play Saturday after 12 consecutive starts, is vital to that success, and so is a better offense from the top line of Max Pacioretty, Jonathan Drouin and Paul Byron.
Coach Claude Julien said he's prepared to be patient, even though Pacioretty hasn't scored in nine games and Drouin hasn't scored in six.
"They had some chances [Saturday]," Julien said. "At the end of the day, if they can make those chances count, it'll make a big difference for our hockey club right now. But at least they're creating something right now."