The Montreal Canadiens have a basket of Easter eggs to hunt when they play host to the New Jersey Devils on Sunday in the second half of a home-and-home series.

Not only are the Canadiens (45-21-10, 100 points) on a quest to claim both halves of the mini-series after winning a 4-3 shootout clash on Saturday. They are now on a realistic push to chase the Atlantic Division crown thanks to an eight-game winning streak.

With six games remaining in the regular season, Montreal sits second in the Atlantic Division, two points back of the Tampa Bay Lightning and tied with the Buffalo Sabres, with one game in hand.

A single point will clinch a playoff spot, but the Canadiens — who last hit the century mark in the 2016-17 season — are looking for more.

“I feel 100 points is good, but we’re trying to get the best possible position for us to start (the playoffs) at home,” goaltender Jakub Dobes said. “We’re trying to finish first.”

Running their winning streak to eight came on a wild ride. The Canadiens staked a 3-0 lead before the midway point of the second period, but the Devils clawed back.

Oliver Kapanen scored the shootout winner in the fifth round to end a perfect five-game road swing.

Now to bring those winning ways to their sure to be frenzied fans.

“I know there’s gonna be a lot of energy in the building,” Montreal coach Martin St. Louis said. “We’re trying to earn that every game. I think they see we try to battle hard every game and respect that. I think that’s the foundation of our success.”

The Devils technically are still alive in the playoffs but will need all kinds of help and have no room for error.

New Jersey (39-34-3, 81 points) is seven points outside a playoff spot with six games remaining.

Even so, forcing extra time after falling behind by a trio of goals is a sign the Devils plan to go down swinging.

“Even if they scored we just kept working,” said forward Jesper Bratt, who continues to pile up the points. “We knew we were going to somehow get a goal if we kept working, kept the momentum up, and that’s what happened.”

As their likely disappointing season winds down, the Devils certainly have plenty of players making their mark.

Bratt has collected seven goals and 15 assists over the past 14 games, while Dawson Mercer has scored three goals in his past two games, Captain Nico Hischier has collected 10 points during a seven-game point streak (two goals, eight assists) and Jack Hughes has racked up 33 points (13 goals, 20 assists) in 19 games following the Olympic break.

Getting another crack at the Canadiens, and a chance to play spoilers, gives the Devils a bit more motivation on top of the revenge factor.

“Bell Centre, a good atmosphere again,” defenseman Jonas Siegenthaler said. “It’s kind of like a mini-series. We want to go there (Sunday) and do our best.”

–Field Level Media

The Colorado Avalanche are a win away from clinching the top seed in the Western Conference after a gritty 2-0 road victory at Dallas on Saturday.

They will try for that victory when they host the St. Louis Blues on Sunday night.

Colorado (50-15-10, 110 points) has an eight-point lead over the Stars, who can only earn 10 more points the rest of the way. The Avalanche, who took the season series from Dallas with Saturday’s win, have won 50 games for the fourth time in the last five years.

One of those 50 victories came against St. Louis (32-31-12, 76 points) in Colorado on Dec. 31. Nathan MacKinnon had two goals in the 6-1 win and leads the NHL with 51 after his empty-netter Saturday, and is third in the league with 122 points (71 assists).

Offensive-minded defenseman Cale Makar had an assist in the New Year’s Eve game but is sidelined with an upper-body injury suffered Monday night against Calgary, but the Avalanche have plenty of other weapons. Martin Necas has a career-high 94 points (36 goals, 58 assists) and Brock Nelson, with 33 goals, gives Colorado three players with 30 or more.

There are two others with 20 goals and Parker Kelly can make it three if he can get one in the final seven games. Kelly’s previous career high was eight goals but he surpassed that in mid-January. The bottom-six forward has seen time on the top two lines and credits MacKinnon for helping him improve offensively.

“He’s helped a lot with my offensive game, probably more than the outside public would see,” Kelly told The Denver Gazette. “It’s always good little pointers that I would have never thought of before with myself. Great leader, great teammate, and there’s a reason he’s the best in the world.”

The Blues have surged since the Olympic break to get into the chase for the wild card. Their 6-2 win at Anaheim on Friday night improved their record to 12-3-3 since Feb. 4, and they are 6-2-2 in their last 10.

The victory over the Ducks ended a two-game skid and came with another strong game from leading scorer Rob Thomas. Thomas had a goal and two assists and now has 53 points (18 goals, 35 assists) in just 57 games this season.

His two assists Friday night set up Dylan Holloway for power-play goals, including the last one to ice the game.

“He’s the most underrated passer in the league,” Holloway said of Thomas. “Such a nice pass and I was kind of blessed to have that lay right on my tape like that.”

St. Louis has moved into contention despite being a seller at the trade deadline. The Blues dealt Brayden Schenn and Justin Faulk last month in the midst of a four-game winning streak. Holloway, who leads St. Louis with 19 goals, has scored seven of those since the trade deadline.

He is fourth on the Blues with 40 points behind Pavel Buchnevich’s 44 points (17 goals, 27 assists) and Jordan Kyrou’s 41 points (17 goals, 24 assists).

-Field Level Media

Virginia parted ways with Amaka Agugua-Hamilton as its head women’s basketball coach after four seasons.

The university announced the news Saturday about Agugua-Hamilton, who helped the Cavaliers become the initial First Four team to advance to the Sweet 16 of the Women’s NCAA Tournament after defeating seventh-seeded Georgia 82-73 in overtime in the first round, then upsetting second-seeded Iowa 83-75 in double overtime in the second round.

Virginia’s season came to an end after dropping a 79-69 decision to third-seeded TCU on March 28.

The Cavaliers, who finished 20-12 this season, posted a 70-58 record with a 29-42 mark in ACC play under Agugua-Hamilton.

The university issued a brief statement on Saturday, saying only that she will not return to the role and that a national search will begin immediately.

–Field Level Media