The Habs returned to the Bell Centre on Wednesday night to kick off a four-game homestand against Toronto. They trailed early and never could recover, ultimately falling 4-1.

Jonathan Drouin will be away for the Canadiens for the foreseeable future as the team announced on Wednesday that he has taken an indefinite leave of absence for personal reasons and has been placed on long-term injured reserve.

It wasn’t the most entertaining game of the year, but considering the importance of the points at hand, any way of getting the win is welcomed. The Habs were on again, off again on Monday night and played with fire in the third but ultimately showed a gutsy effort to pull out a 2-1 win against the Flames in Cole Caufield’s NHL debut.

Last week was a critical one for the Habs who had a chance to solidify their spot in the North Division playoffs. It didn’t happen. Instead, Calgary has cut into the game and Montreal is now dealing with several injuries as well.

The Habs were looking to rebound from a tough outing on Friday in a rematch with the Flames on Saturday night. They started off well but struggled as the game went on, ultimately falling 5-2.

The Habs inexplicably came out without energy against Calgary on Friday night and managed to stay in the game for 55 minutes thanks to Jake Allen and Tyler Toffoli. However, the Flames were able to skate away with the 4-2 victory.

The Habs were the better team for 55 minutes, but a costly Jonathan Drouin penalty almost sent them reeling. They hung on after playing an inspired game to beat the Oilers 4-3 in a game that really did not deserve to be this close of a final score.

The third quarter of the season has now come and gone which means it’s time for the next round of our report cards. As always, we begin with the goalies and defencemen.

The Habs played a perfect road game for 40 minutes on Monday night and were leading 1-0 after two periods. They decided that was enough and let the Oilers walk all over them in the third and lost 4-1 despite Jake Allen doing his best to steal another game for his teammates.

Montreal’s recall situation has come up frequently in recent days. Here is an overview of the rule, how the Habs have used all but one already, and the benefits and drawbacks of using that last one now.