In a game that was wildly entertaining and very physical on Thursday, the Habs showed an ability to keep up with a team playing a different style of game. In the end, they lost 3-2 in overtime to Winnipeg, but this was a game where both teams skated away feeling quite good about their respective games.
Samuel Montembeault was in fine form on Thursday night as the Habs kicked off a four-game road trip in Buffalo and skated away with a 3-2 victory that also featured Kaiden Guhle’s first career NHL goal.
The Canadiens weren’t able to end their home stand on a high note as Minnesota was able to skate away with a 3-1 victory on Tuesday night.
Thursday night was all Habs for the first 40 minutes as the kids showed up to play, the veterans followed suit, and the fans in attendance were treated to a big fight, Juraj Slafkovsky’s first, and total domination by the home team who is now 3-0 on home ice this season while playing some offensive and entertaining hockey as they beat Arizona 6-2.
Jake Allen held down the fort early and often on Friday night but the Habs couldn’t muster up anything offensively as they fell 3-0 to Detroit in their first road game of the season.
A Montreal squad filled with rookies took on the heavily-favoured Maple Leafs to open up the season on Wednesday and looked entirely like they belonged. A great effort helped them squeak out a last-minute victory for the 4-3 win with 17 seconds left in the game.
The Habs looked disjointed again, but they were also facing a much more NHL-ready squad (again) as their struggles continued as they’ve yet to register a win in the preseason. On Tuesday, they fell 5-4 to a group from Ottawa that wanted to ramp up the physicality, a strategy that Montreal had little answer for.
In a game that looked much like what is predicted for the Habs this season, the forwards looked uneven and the blue line looked like a disaster. Add in a bad goal allowed late and it came as no surprise that the Maple Leafs skated away with a relatively unchallenged 5-1 win on Monday night.
The Habs showed all sorts of positive signs as a very youthful roster skated in their first preseason contest on Monday. Despite those, they also showed that seasoning is required and they were unable to keep it together for the entire game. In the end, they dropped a hard-fought 2-1 contest that was quite entertaining.
The Habs are likely to select Shane Wright with the first overall selection of the 2022 Entry Draft. Should they decide not to select Wright, here is a look at the next best option as Logan Cooley presents as the most dynamic player in this year’s draft.