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Montreal’s long road trip came to an end with several tough matchups and one easier one on paper.  Naturally, the Habs lost the easier one but won the three harder ones, ending their voyage on a positive note.

The Week That Was

Dec. 30: Canadiens 3, Panthers 2 (OT) – After a scoreless 40 minutes to start, things got really interesting.  Brad Marchand opened the scoring a little past the midway mark of the third and when San Reinhart scored with five minutes left, it looked like it was over.  However, Cole Caufield scored on the next shift and with the goalie pulled, Nick Suzuki was able to beat Daniil Tarasov to tie the game and send it to overtime.  Marchand took a roughing penalty for a hit on Mike Matheson in the extra session, paving the way for Suzuki to tap home the winner on the power play.

Jan. 1: Canadiens 7, Hurricanes 5 – These two teams entered 2025 as the top-scoring teams in the East and lived up to that.  Montreal scored twice in the first 4:06 and it looked like they’d be in good shape.  Instead, they were down two a minute into the second.  To their credit, the Habs bounced back with a rare three-goal middle frame, then did just enough to hold on in the third with Juraj Slafkovsky scoring the eventual winner on a bank shot from near the goal line.

Jan. 3: Blues 2, Canadiens 0 – St. Louis has struggled this season and with them on a back-to-back, this felt like the winnable game of the weekend.  Instead, Montreal didn’t come out with a ton of jump and Jordan Binnington played like an Olympic-calibre goalie, something that can’t be said for a lot of his games in 2025-26.  Jonatan Berggren and Robert Thomas scored for the Blues, the latter being a deflating shorthanded marker.

Jan. 4: Canadiens 4, Stars 3 (OT) – Even with Dallas struggling as of late, they’re a top team in the NHL for a reason and the Habs were playing their second game in 22 hours.  Still, they kept up with the Stars and led heading into the third period.  However, they weren’t able to hold it and were often merely holding on at times as fatigue was clearly a factor.  But in the extra session, Phillip Danault won an offensive zone draw to Lane Hutson who, for some reason, was allowed to skate unimpeded for several seconds, giving him an angle to fire one past Jake Oettinger for the win.

StatPack

Skaters:

Goalies:

Team Leaders:

Goals: Cole Caufield (20)
Assists: Lane Hutson (35)
Points: Nick Suzuki (46)
+/-: Nick Suzuki (+14)
PIMS: Arber Xhekaj (71)
Shots: Cole Caufield (119)

News And Notes

– The Habs had three players with 40 points at the 40-game mark – Cole Caufield, Lane Hutson, and Nick Suzuki.  The last time Montreal had three point-per-game players 40 games into the season?  1992-93, when they had four.

– Suzuki’s overtime winner against the Panthers was his 19th career overtime point.  That passes Howie Morenz for the all-time team record.

– Josh Anderson suffered a lower-body injury against Florida and missed the two games over the weekend.  No updates were given on his condition on the weekend.

Last Game’s Lines:

Caufield – Suzuki – Texier
Slafkovsky – Kapanen – Demidov
Bolduc – Danault – Gallagher
Blais – Veleno – Beck

Matheson – Dobson
Hutson – Carrier
Xhekaj – Struble

The Week Ahead

Wednesday vs Calgary – Very quietly, the Flames have won five of their last seven games with Dustin Wolf playing a big part in that.  Calgary has just one 30-point scorer, that being centre Nazem Kadri while some of their higher-paid forwards (Morgan Frost, Yegor Sharangovich, and Joel Farabee) are all below 20; Jonathan Huberdeau is only at 21.  Suffice it to say, they’re one of the lowest-scoring teams in the NHL.  Former Hab Joel Hanley is a regular on their third defence pairing.

Thursday vs Florida – After playing the Panthers last week, not a lot has changed between then and now.  Matthew Tkachuk is close to returning and could be back for this one.  Seth Jones was injured in the Winter Classic and his availability for this game is in question though it’s not believed to be a long-term absence.  Sam Bennett had an eight-game point streak snapped on Sunday against Colorado.

Saturday vs Detroit – Despite their goaltending not really being much better than last year (neither John Gibson nor Cam Talbot has a save percentage over .900), the Red Wings have won 10 of their last 15 games and have been up near the top of the Atlantic Division over the past several weeks.  Lucas Raymond and Alex DeBrincat are leading the way offensively with over 40 points apiece while rookie Emmett Finnie remains on their top line and has 19 points, just a few behind Oliver Kapanen.

Final Thought

Back in his first stint with the Habs, Phillip Danault spent a lot of time playing with Brendan Gallagher on a trio that, at times, was their top line.  But when Danault was acquired, he wasn’t reunited right away with his old linemate as Josh Anderson got that spot instead.  It was certainly understandable as Anderson was a good stylistic fit and Gallagher, let’s face it, has had a really rough first half of the season.

But with Anderson out, Gallagher was the logical replacement on that trio and wouldn’t you know it, Gallagher has gone and had two of his better games of the season.  I’m not sure this is a long-term solution, especially as players start to come back at some point, but with another rough stretch ahead on the schedule, if Danault and Gallagher can rekindle their chemistry and make the third line a little more impactful, that should certainly help the Habs out in the short term.  With Danault having a fairly quiet start to his second stint with the team, this could be a nice little added bonus.