The red-hot Montreal Canadiens technically can’t clinch a playoff spot on Tuesday, but they do have an opportunity to just about eliminate one of their closest pursuers for the last postseason berth in the Eastern Conference.Winners of five straight, the Canadiens will try to take a giant leap toward clinching the second and final wild-card spot when they host the Detroit Red Wings.Montreal (38-30-9, 85 points) entered Monday six points ahead of the New York Rangers and Detroit (36-33-7, 79 points) for the second wild-card spot.The Red Wings will enter Tuesday with a game in hand on Montreal, but a Montreal win would put the Canadiens eight points ahead of Detroit with five games left for the Red Wings and four for the Canadiens.”Every game is the biggest one going forward,” said Montreal forward Cole Caufield. “You’ve got to find a way.”As much as Montreal knows the playoff math, Detroit also is aware that a win in regulation against the Canadiens is pretty much a must — especially since the Red Wings are playing five of their last six regular-season games on the road.The game at Montreal starts a three-game road trip that also takes the Red Wings to Florida and Tampa Bay.While not quite as hot as Montreal recently, the Red Wings have also surged. They’ve won three of their last four games and registered a point in the lone loss during that stretch, a 2-1 overtime defeat at St. Louis.”We’re finding ways to get points,” said Detroit head coach Todd McLellan. “It doesn’t have to be pretty and sometimes it won’t be. But at the end of the day, the points are important.”