The first quarter of the season was a lot better for the Habs standings-wise than it was in 2024-25. Not surprisingly, that resulted in some strong grades from our writers when it came to their forwards.

Topics in our latest podcast include Mike Matheson’s recent contract extension, Alexandre Carrier’s recent struggles, Nick Suzuki’s chances of playing for Canada at the Olympics, and much more.

Montreal’s first quarter of the season featured plenty of ups and downs but they weren’t in a bad spot when it came to an end. Our opening quarter grades begin as always with the goalies and defencemen.

As we pass the one-quarter mark of the season, some of Montreal’s early-season variances have started to become more of a consistent pattern. Some of that is good, some of it, not so much.

The Habs rebounded well from a tough loss on Tuesday against Ottawa. They came back from a pair of one-goal deficits on Wednesday against Winnipeg while Cole Caufield potted the shootout winner in a 3-2 victory.

In a key divisional matchup against the Senators on Tuesday, the Habs didn’t put forth their best effort. They squandered an early lead and couldn’t muster up much in the back half of the game, eventually falling 5-2.

The Habs locked in another core defenceman for the long haul back on Friday when they signed Mike Matheson to a five-year, $30 million extension. Our writers offer up their thoughts on the signing.

The Habs had a tough three-in-four stretch out West this past week. The last game was certainly a struggle but they played well in the other two to pick up a pair of victories and make it a successful showing as they continue to work to right the ship after some struggles.

After a big win in Vegas on Friday, the Habs weren’t able to follow that up on Saturday in Colorado. Instead, the Avalanche took advantage of some shaky defence from the visitors, paving the way for them to pick up a 7-2 win.

The Habs started a tough back-to-back set on Friday with a game in Vegas. Samuel Montembeault had his best performance of the season in goal while Montreal’s top six chipped in with three goals to give Montreal the 4-1 win.