It wasn’t a terrible effort by the Habs, but the Predators were more determined in the first and third period and that effort ended up on the scoreboard as they beat the Habs 3-1 in Nashville on Thursday night.

The struggling Anaheim Ducks were in town on Tuesday night and the Habs took advantage by using their speed to skate away with a 4-1 victory.

For 40 minutes, Sunday’s game against Edmonton looked like a replay of Saturday against New Jersey. The Habs were the better team yet trailed after two periods. However, a late goal in the third sent it to overtime where Jonathan Drouin potted the winner.

Montreal’s first game after the All-Star break and bye week was against the cellar-dwelling Devils. However, a tough one for Antti Niemi and some poor decisions to get too cute in the offensive zone proved costly as the Habs fell 3-2 in overtime.

Facing the big, physical, and Metropolitan Division-leading Blue Jackets, the Habs turned in an exemplary defensive effort as the game bordered on boring at times but they did enough to get the 4-1 victory.

On a night where the Habs looked tired for much of the first and third periods, Antti Niemi stole the show with a 52 save performance to give Montreal the 5-1 win over Florida.

Two fast teams, two physical teams, awesome saves, great defending, creative plays, good scoring chances, and tons of drama. Monday’s game had it all and the Habs came through with a 3-2 overtime win in Boston.

Montreal’s frustration over their offensive struggles boiled over as the team took needless risks and also faltered defensively. The end result was a 4-1 win for St. Louis on Thursday night.

Shea Weber was in uniform, Antti Niemi played a strong game, and the defencemen played a strong third period to get the Habs a win to close off their back-to-back set as they beat Detroit 3-2.

An early injury to Shea Weber and a tendency to hang around the perimeter proved costly as the Habs fell 1-0 to Minnesota on Monday night.