The Tampa Bay Lightning's 2-1 win last night over the Pittsburgh Penguins officially moved them out of this race and into one for fourth place, on top of allowing Guy Boucher's team to officially clinch a playoff spot.

That's something the Canadiens can't say yet, and the chances of them making up a six-point deficit with one less game to play than Tampa are practically zero.

And so, we are in a situation that is the exact opposite of the one we had when I began tracking the playoff race back in the aftermath of a 3-0 win in Pittsburgh back on March 12.

I titled the story that day "Looking up for a change" and had the top six teams in the conference listed, with Montreal in last and focused on gaining ground on those ahead of them.

Now, just 18 days and a 3-6-0 record later, the Canadiens are right back where they're accustomed to being – looking over their shoulders.

They did get a favour last night from the New York Islanders when they blew out the Rangers 6-2 on home ice, and they can get some more help from the same team when they host the Hurricanes on Saturday night.

That's going to be a big night as all four teams listed here will be playing on the road, and Carolina has the easiest draw of them all with Montreal in New Jersey, Buffalo in Washington and the Rangers in Philadelphia.

It might seem depressing to go from wondering about possibly winning the division or getting home ice advantage to just making it into the dance, but really, at the beginning of the season was this not what practically everyone was predicting for this team? And that was with Andrei Markov and Josh Gorges healthy and a couple of sure 30-goal scorers in Mike Cammalleri and Brian Gionta.

So before wallowing in self-pity, just look at the picture above and wonder what it would be like to cling to yet another impossibly late charge to the playoffs and needing the help of other teams to keep hope alive.

The Canadiens still have their destiny in their own hands and you should draw some modicum of comfort in that, even if those hands have gone stone cold at the worst possible time.

Montreal, 6th place, 41-30-7, 89 points (38 non-shootout wins)

Last night: Lost 6-2 at Carolina

Next game: Saturday at New Jersey

4 games remaining, 1 against playoff teams

Home (1) – 4/5 Chi.

Away (3) – 4/2 NJ; 4/7 Ott; 4/9 Tor

Buffalo, 7th place, 39-29-9, 87 points, (34 non-shootout wins)

Last night: Did not play

Next game: Saturday at Washington

5 games remaining, 3 against playoff teams

Home (2) – 4/5 TB; 4/8 Pha

Away (3) – 4/2 Was; 4/3 Car; 4/9 CBJ

NY Rangers, 8th place, 41-32-5, 87 points, (33 non-shootout wins)

Last night: Lost 6-2 at NY Islanders

Next game: Saturday night at Philadelphia

4 games remaining, 2 against playoff teams

Home (3) – 4/4 Bos; 4/7 Atl; 4/9 NJ

Away (1) – 4/3 Pha

Carolina, 9th place, 37-30-10, 84 points (32 non-shootout wins)

Last night: Did not play

Next game: Saturday at NY Islanders

5 games remaining, 3 against playoff teams

Home (3) – 4/3 Buf; 4/6 Det; 4/9 TB

Away (2) – 4/2 NYI; 4/8 Atl