Montreal Impact in the MLS playoffs: 3 things to watch

The Montreal Impact will put its season on the line Thursday night as they host Toronto FC in a one game winner-take-all playoff match at Saputo Stadium. Here are three things to watch for heading into the big game:

1. Drogba: The MVP

Remember when the Impact signed Didier Drogba and Twitter was abuzz with Drogba doubters?

They said at 37 years old, he was over the hill and that he had "only came to the MLS to sell a new jersey with his name on it."

Well, safe to say that those critics have been unceremoniously silenced on all fronts.

Drogba has been sensational since joining the Montreal Impact. He's scored 11 goals since his first game Sept. 5 and he's earned Player Of the Month honours for both September and October.

His coach, Mauro Biello, says he's been an exemplary team mate both on and off the field.

"He's won everything but he comes here with that same motivation and that same will to win and try to get a championship here... You see him working with young players, you see him working on defence on the field, you see him organizing in the (locker) room," Biello says. "He's so culturally inclined to this team and this city in such a short period of time, to me it's incredible."  

Drogba has had a knack for scoring the big goal in the big game his entire career. Expect him to come up large once again tonight. 

2. Shaking foundations (The Montreal Ultras AKA fans)

During the CONCACAF Champions League, the Impact played at the Olympic Stadium in front of thousands more fans than Saputo Stadium could ever hold, and played in Mexico City where nearly 100,000 fans rooted against them at the Azteca stadium.

Those were all great moments — but expect the atmosphere tonight to top it all.  

This is a do-or-die game against the Impact's biggest rival in a stadium that shakes and rattles in rhythm with the fans' cheers. There isn't a bad seat in building and when the crowd gets going, 20,000 people sound like 100,000 people.

Emotions in the stadium will be at an all-time high and if you are lucky enough to be there, you will feel it rattle throughout your body. Saputo Stadium was built for matches like this.

3. Evan Bush vs. the wind (Evan Bush)

Montreal's goalkeeper Evan Bush has been stellar in his first full season as a starter for the Impact, but tonight he might have to deal with an unexpected opponent: The wind. 

CBC Montreal weather specialist Frank Cavallaro says the wind will be strong and could cause havoc for the players on the field. That means Bush will have to take care on his clearances to keep the ball low and away from the gusting swirls of air above him. 

If the winds are as high as Cavallaro expects, it will create a challenge for both teams.

What happens if the game ends in a tie?

There must be a winner at the end of the match, so if the game is tied after regulation time expires this is the procedure:

• Two 15-minute periods of extra time (no golden goal).
• If still tied, the game will go to a shoot out.