Topics in this edition of our podcast include the hit on Juraj Slafkovsky on Thursday, Jayden Struble’s strong start to his NHL career, Montreal’s goaltending situation, and much more.

Montreal’s first game after the holiday break was an inconsistent one as they had segments where they struggled mightily and others where they hung in against Carolina. However, in the end, they fell 5-3.

Lately, it has felt like the long road trip beginning in mid-December has been somewhat of a death knell for the Habs. However, they did quite well in the first leg of it this time around, picking up five of six points against the Central Division. Plus, some thoughts on the pending defensive decision Montreal will need to make.

After a heartbreaking loss in Minnesota on Thursday, the Habs looked to get back in the win column on Friday in Chicago. They got off to a slow start but then rattled off five unanswered goals to pick up the 5-2 victory.

The Habs were able to make a late comeback on Thursday in Minnesota to get the game to overtime but Kirill Kaprizov notched the winner in the dying seconds of the extra session to give the Wild a 4-3 win.

Patrick Roy’s departure symbolized a shift away from the excellence that once defined the Canadiens – a standard of greatness not aligned with branding but with unyielding expectations. 28 years later, they haven’t gotten close to getting back to that standard.

While the Habs blew another multi-goal lead on Monday night, it didn’t come back to bite them as Justin Barron scored in the opening minute of overtime to give Montreal a 3-2 victory over Winnipeg.

It was a light week on the schedule for the Habs as they wrapped up the home portion of their 2023 schedule with a pair of games against the Metropolitan Division. They had multi-goal leads in both games but were only able to hold onto one of them.

A strong second period gave the Habs a commanding lead on Saturday and while they nearly blew it in the third, they were able to escape with a 5-3 victory over the Islanders.

The first quarter of the season saw some good play at times from the Habs and poor performances at others. Not surprisingly, there is a considerable gap between our top grades and the worst ones; we wrap up our report card with a look at the forwards.