With the official elimination of the Montreal Canadiens from the playoffs expected to be confirmed shortly, there is only one interesting race to follow for the good of the organization, and that is the best odds in the lottery. Despite the fact that the Tricolore was not playing yesterday, it was a perfect night for the club, as all the results of the night were in the CH's favor. <b>Here are the results of Friday night's games:</b> <q>- The Flyers won against the Sabres, moving them one point above the Habs in the standings. - The Blues won against the Capitals, so they widen the gap to five points over the Habs, further confirming the top-7 for the CH. - The Anaheim Ducks won against the Blue Jackets, which reduces the gap to four points between them and the Habs. So there is still a possibility of them overtaking the CH in the overall standings.</q> So, at the time of writing, Kent Hughes and his team currently have the 5th best odds in the lottery, which gives them an 8.5% chance of winning. <div align='center' style='padding-top:20px;padding-bottom:20px;'><img src='https://i.marqueur.com/habsetlnh/i/photo/245392.webp' width='100%' border='0' alt='image' loading='lazy' defer /></div> However, as we can see in this ranking, there is still a lot of room for change, as the Habs are quietly closing the gap to the top-4 teams, now having only a four point difference with the 4th position, and a six point difference with the 3rd position. On the other hand, the Tricolore is only one point out of 6th place, and three points out of 8th. The club's final 13 games will be decisive on the future of the organization, in relation to the lottery and the final draft selection rank. With the third-worst schedule remaining, there is a good chance that the club will solidify a top-5 spot in the upcoming draft in June. Martin St-Louis' team will face some tough opponents again this week, as they take on the Lightning twice in a row (Saturday and Tuesday), in addition to the Bruins (Thursday). However, they will have an opponent that is a little more within their reach next Saturday, the Blue Jackets.