There was something fitting about federal party leaders facing off in Montreal two hours earlier than planned Wednesday evening, so the French debate didn’t fully overlap with the Habs’ hopes to clinch a playoff berth.

I mean, it’s clear our allegiance in this hockey-mad city and country is team before government.

But much like the Canadiens’ last regular season game (and new phenom Ivan Demidov’s second stint in the sainte-flanelle), the political confrontation was a high-stakes matchup with the intensity of a playoff bout.

The pressure was on rookie Liberal Leader Mark Carney, a one-time varsity goaltender who is fond of sprinkling hockey metaphors in his speeeches, to avoid any own-goals with his laboured French. But it was equally crucial for Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre and Bloc Québécois Leader Yves-François Blanchet to put a few pucks past Carney, who has a formidable lead over them both in the polls in Quebec — although recent surveys show the gap tightening.

Jagmeet Singh, the New Democratic Party leader, was simply trying to save the furniture, as they say in French. Jonathan Pedneault of the Green Party was ejected at the last minute, with the Leaders’ Debates Commission saying the party didn’t meet the criteria to participate.

But this was no Four Nations Cup, where Canadian and U.S. players dropped the gloves three times in less than one minute in their February duel. There were no knock-out blows, no spectacular body checks. Each leader did what they had to do in the debate. However, if this were an actual hockey game, it would have been a regular season tie.

There was no gang-up on Carney, the political........

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