The Habs will be without Brendan Gallagher for a little while as the Department of Player Safety announced that the winger received a five-game suspension for his hit on Islanders defenceman Adam Pelech on Thursday night.
After another rough outing to start the week, the Habs look to get back on track on Thursday as they hosted the Islanders. They started strong before blowing the lead late in the third but managed to get one with just over two minutes to go to get the 4-3 win.
Laval had a pair of key divisional matchups last week in a home-and-home set with Belleville. While they’ve struggled recently against the Senators, the Rocket did manage to pick up the win in both games, aiding their midseason playoff push.
After a rough couple of games, the Habs are making some roster changes. The team announced on Monday that they’ve placed centre Mitchell Stephens on waivers and assigned blueliner Justin Barron to Laval while recalling Arber Xhekaj.
Things were looking up for the Habs in the first half of the week following a pair of wins against strong playoff-bound teams. However, they followed that up with a pair of blowout losses to end on a low note.
Laval continued its strong start to January last week, picking up five of six points to move up two positions in the standings and putting them in a decent spot as they approach the midway mark of the season.
After coming up just short on Saturday versus Edmonton, the Habs looked to get back in the win column on Monday against Colorado. They struggled considerably at times but a good second half helped secure them the 4-3 win.
The Habs officially kicked off the second half of their season this past week. They ended the first half on a losing note and started out the second half the same way in a week that saw them struggle to score. Plus, some thoughts on Sean Monahan’s potential upcoming trade.
December had some ups and downs for the Habs who had some of their best and worst outings of the season. Meanwhile, a handful of players had strong months statistically, earning them a spot in our monthly three stars as voted by our readers.
Montreal’s forward depth got a little better on Thursday as the Habs announced that Rafael Harvey-Pinard will return to the lineup tonight against San Jose. Meanwhile, they’ve acquired Filip Cederqvist from Buffalo for future considerations.