Defence was most certainly not the name of the game for the Habs this past week. They allowed an average of more than six goals per game and somehow managed to win one of them along the way. Plus, some commentary on the Jonathan Drouin benching.
The Habs had the lead a couple of times in Tampa Bay on Saturday night but the Lightning were able to come back with three unanswered tallies in the third to skate away with the 5-3 victory.
Into the top twenty we go in our annual rankings. In this group, we have a trio of players that have had a small taste of NHL action and are hoping to secure a regular role with the Canadiens in the near future.
Thursday’s contest in Florida was a wild affair that saw both teams combined for ten goals in the first period alone. However, seven of those came from Florida which helped pace them to a 9-5 victory.
Laval’s depth continued to be tested last week and while they did get some welcome additions, it wasn’t quite enough for them to put up the points as they managed just a single win over their three games.
With his college career coming to an end over the weekend, it’s now time for Jayden Struble to turn pro. He did just that on Wednesday as the Habs announced that they’ve signed the defenceman to a two-year, entry-level contract.
After a tough outing on Monday, the Habs were back in action on Tuesday night as they travelled to Pittsburgh to take on the Penguins. This one got off to a rough start but the offence battled back as the Canadiens snapped their seven-game losing streak with a 6-4 victory.
The defending Stanley Cup champs were in town and had something to play for as they battle for seeding in the Central Division. The Habs don’t have much to play for and the difference in importance showed as Colorado doubled up Montreal by a score of 8-4.
The Habs returned home from their trip on the West Coast but things didn’t get any easier as they had three tough matchups against the top teams in the Metropolitan. In the end, they were only able to come away with two points through a pair of shootout losses.
After a pair of overtime losses to start the week, the Habs looked to get back in the win column on Saturday as they hosted New Jersey. However, they weren’t able to muster up much offensively, falling 3-1.