The week started ugly and the Habs blew a three-goal lead in another game. However, they still wound up with two wins and five points overall, a performance that keeps them right in the thick of the playoff race.
The Week That Was
Dec. 9: Lightning 6, Canadiens 1 – Montreal didn’t play too poorly out of the gate in this one. However, they collapsed early as Tampa Bay had two within the first six minutes and added another by the end of the first to chase Jakub Dobes. Things weren’t any better with Samuel Montembeault and it became a game where both teams were playing with less than max effort pretty quickly.
Dec. 11: Canadiens 4, Penguins 2 – The Habs turned to top goalie prospect Jacob Fowler for this game, hoping to get some stability between the pipes. Montreal responded with a great defensive first period, easing him into the thick of things before Pittsburgh put him through a shooting gallery the rest of the way. But the rookie was quite sharp while Montreal got some secondary scoring before the top-six took over with goals from Cole Caufield and Oliver Kapanen.
Dec. 13: Rangers 5, Canadiens 4 (OT) – On the one hand, the Habs had and blew a three-goal lead. That’s not ideal. On the other hand, they probably had no business getting a point of that game as they couldn’t muster up much offensively, putting up just 17 shots on Igor Shesterkin who had an off-night. Special teams were the difference in this one with New York scoring twice on the power play (including the winner) while Artemi Panarin scored on a penalty shot.
Dec. 14: Canadiens 4, Oilers 1 – After receiving some public criticism from Martin St. Louis, Montreal responded quite well with probably their best all-around game of the season. They had a pair of power play goals and once again got some secondary scoring from Joe Veleno and Alexandre Texier. They didn’t score on four breakaways but got away with the lack of finish thanks to a strong game from Dobes.
StatPack
Skaters:
| # | Player | GP | G | A | +/- | PIMS | SOG | ATOI |
| 8 | Mike Matheson | 4 | 0 | 0 | -3 | 0 | 4 | 25:20 |
| 11 | Brendan Gallagher | 4 | 1 | 0 | +2 | 2 | 6 | 11:52 |
| 13 | Cole Caufield | 4 | 1 | 1 | -2 | 0 | 11 | 17:35 |
| 14 | Nick Suzuki | 4 | 1 | 4 | -2 | 0 | 11 | 21:45 |
| 17 | Josh Anderson | 4 | 1 | 0 | +3 | 7 | 5 | 14:05 |
| 20 | Juraj Slafkovsky | 4 | 0 | 4 | +1 | 2 | 5 | 16:45 |
| 42 | Adam Engstrom | 3 | 0 | 0 | +1 | 2 | 0 | 11:47 |
| 45 | Alexandre Carrier | 4 | 0 | 1 | E | 4 | 4 | 21:53 |
| 47 | Jayden Struble | 3 | 0 | 1 | -1 | 0 | 0 | 13:51 |
| 48 | Lane Hutson | 4 | 0 | 6 | +3 | 2 | 6 | 22:41 |
| 49 | Jared Davidson | 2 | 0 | 0 | -2 | 4 | 2 | 9:00 |
| 53 | Noah Dobson | 4 | 0 | 0 | +2 | 2 | 7 | 21:01 |
| 62 | Owen Beck | 3 | 0 | 0 | +2 | 2 | 3 | 8:52 |
| 71 | Jake Evans | 3 | 1 | 0 | +1 | 2 | 3 | 15:57 |
| 72 | Arber Xhekaj | 2 | 1 | 0 | +1 | 4 | 2 | 13:07 |
| 76 | Zachary Bolduc | 4 | 1 | 0 | -1 | 2 | 9 | 15:45 |
| 85 | Alexandre Texier | 4 | 2 | 1 | +3 | 2 | 7 | 13:35 |
| 90 | Joe Veleno | 4 | 1 | 1 | +1 | 0 | 2 | 13:47 |
| 91 | Oliver Kapanen | 4 | 2 | 0 | -1 | 2 | 10 | 16:18 |
| 93 | Ivan Demidov | 4 | 1 | 2 | -3 | 4 | 3 | 14:16 |
Goalies:
| # | Player | Record | GAA | SV% | SO |
| 32 | Jacob Fowler | 1-0-1 | 3.42 | .896 | 0 |
| 35 | Samuel Montembeault | 0-0-0 | 4.50 | .769 | 0 |
| 75 | Jakub Dobes | 1-1-0 | 3.02 | .905 | 0 |
Team Leaders:
Goals: Cole Caufield (17)
Assists: Nick Suzuki (28)
Points: Nick Suzuki (37)
+/-: Nick Suzuki (+10)
PIMS: Arber Xhekaj (55)
Shots: Cole Caufield (90)
News And Notes
– Following the Tampa Bay game (really, during the game but it was only announced after), the Habs decided to turn to some youngsters, recalling Jacob Fowler, Owen Beck, and Adam Engstrom from Laval. Because Montreal had been operating with a minimum-sized roster before then, they didn’t have to make any corresponding demotions to add them to the active roster.
– Lane Hutson has set a Canadiens franchise record for the most assists by a defenceman in a calendar year at 59 and counting. He also leads all NHL blueliners in assists in 2025.
– Juraj Slafkovsky has 20 points in 32 games so far this season. Last season, he also had 20 points 32 games into his year.
– Starting on Saturday, the NHL will be in a one-week roster freeze (aside from limited recall/demotion activity from the minors). Last year, the Habs made a trade right before the deadline, acquiring Alexandre Carrier for Justin Barron.
Last Game’s Lines:
Caufield – Suzuki – Bolduc
Slafkovsky – Kapanen – Demidov
Texier – Evans – Anderson
Veleno – Beck – Gallagher
Matheson – Dobson
Hutson – Carrier
Struble – Engstrom
The Week Ahead
Tuesday vs Philadelphia – The Flyers have picked up points in eight of their last ten games to get into a Wild Card spot for the time being, despite being without one of their better offensive threats in Tyson Foerster. Former Hab Christian Dvorak is playing somewhat regularly on the top line which has him on pace for a career year offensively while another former Hab, Noah Juulsen, has settled into a regular role on their back end after being in and out of the lineup early on.
Thursday vs Chicago – Montreal catches a break on the injury front for this one with Connor Bedard’s injury last week keeping him out of the lineup for the next couple of weeks. Some of their veterans have stepped up their play offensively with Tyler Bertuzzi and Andre Burakovsky off to good starts while Frank Nazar, acquired with the first-rounder the Habs received for Alexander Romanov, sitting fourth in team scoring. Sam Rinzel, one of their late-season bright spots last year, was recently sent down so the Habs won’t be facing him either.
Saturday/Sunday vs/at Pittsburgh – It’s a rare home-and-home back-to-back set against Pittsburgh, a team the Canadiens faced just this past week. (Talk about a scheduling quirk, three games in ten days.) Pittsburgh has made a shakeup move since last week’s meeting, sending goalie Tristan Jarry to Edmonton for goalie Stuart Skinner and former Montreal blueliner Brett Kulak. Skinner will likely get one of the starts and he has fared reasonably well against the Habs, winning four of his five games against them.
Final Thought
On his first recall, Adam Engstrom only got into two games, sitting more than he played. He did okay in those outings which is fine when you’re just getting your feet wet in the NHL. But it wasn’t a surprise to see him sent down to play a bigger role rather than spending more time in the press box than on the ice.
That’s what made his quick recall back from Laval all the more intriguing. It’s clear the three recalls were timed as a wakeup call to the team in the hopes of getting them to play better knowing there was actually someone there that could take their place in the lineup. But with how little he played the first time, was it going to be an idle threat?
It turns out the answer is no. Engstrom played in all three games following his recall, doing so on his off-side which is also intriguing. He plays there with some regularity in Laval so they’re not asking him to do something different while playing him there allows for Lane Hutson to play on his natural side, allowing them to fiddle with the pairings a bit. Engstrom hasn’t looked out of place in these last few outings, putting some short-term heat on Jayden Struble and Arber Xhekaj who have been rotating since Engstrom’s promotion. That seems likely to continue in the short term as it appears they’re going to give Engstrom a real look. So far, he’s making a good impression.