While the schedule gets lighter for the Habs in terms of no back-to-backs for a while, they’re in the middle of facing some tough opponents. And while they deserved a better fate than they got, it wasn’t a particularly successful week with just one win in three games.
With some weaker opponents on the schedule last week, the Rocket had a great chance on home ice to get some separation in the division. Instead, they lost all three games and only managed three goals as they failed to take advantage of the soft schedule.
There’s an $8.7 million question the Habs have likely been pondering for a while. When Patrik Laine returns from his core muscle injury, what are they going to do with him? With him skating and nearing a return, that question is about to be answered.
It would be fair to say that the Habs had their struggles this past week. On the other hand, they still managed to come out of their games with five of a possible eight points, good enough to keep them in the top three in the increasingly tight Atlantic Division.
After dropping the first two games of their road trip, the Habs looked to salvage a victory as they took on Ottawa on Saturday. They certainly didn’t play well for most of the game but did just enough to secure a 6-5 overtime win.
The three-goalie rotation is over in Montreal, at least for the time being. The Habs announced on Friday that they’ve assigned goalie Jacob Fowler along with centre Owen Beck to Laval.
Laval had a tough back-to-back set on the road last week. They didn’t play particularly well in either game but Kaapo Kahkonen helped steal a win in Rochester to help them split the week.
Alexandre Texier has turned out to be a key piece for the Habs since signing with them back in November. On Wednesday, he was rewarded for his efforts as the Canadiens have signed him to a two-year extension that will carry a $2.5 million cap hit.
After their long road trip, the Habs returned home to kick off a long stretch of home games. While the week didn’t end particularly well, Montreal played a pair of solid games in their first two contests, allowing them to come away with a reasonable four points.
The month of December was a strong one for the Habs along with several key prospects (and a couple of veteran minor leaguers). Here are our three stars for the month.