Last week was a bit of an up and down one for the Habs who started and ended with a disappointing result with a pair of dominant victories in between. But it wasn’t all bad as Victor Mete finally got his first NHL goal.
The Habs went into Minnesota on Saturday with the hopes of sweeping their season series against the Wild. Unfortunately for Montreal, some early-season demons came back to bite them as they fell 4-3.
It took until their fourth game but Laval is finally in the win column as they split their first two road games of the 2019-20 season.
The week started off on a sour note with a pair of losses against division rivals before the Habs put together their best effort of the early season in a convincing victory over the defending Stanley Cup Champions.
It appears that Michael McCarron has recovered from his groin injury that he sustained early in training camp as on Wednesday, the Habs announced that they have placed him on waivers. He cleared on Thursday and was sent to Laval of the AHL.
Laval’s first week of the season resembled a lot of their play from last year as they came up short on the scoreboard as they dropped both of their games to Cleveland, the affiliate for Columbus.
Montreal’s 2019-20 season kicked off with a pair of very fast-paced games on the road. They trailed in both, led in both, and wound up going to a shootout in both as well as they ultimately split the two to pick up three of a possible four points.
The infirmary to start the season is getting a little smaller as the Habs announced on Thursday that they have placed defenceman Gustav Olofsson on waivers. This comes on the heels of suffering a shoulder injury at the beginning of training camp.
The Habs narrowly missed the playoffs last season and have opted for continuity and the hope of continued development over a big splash to try to change that fate. Will that be enough to make the postseason in 2019-20?
Following Saturday’s win against Ottawa, Montreal had three cuts still to make. Two of those have come in the form of Charles Hudon and Charlie Lindgren who were placed on waivers on Sunday.