The Habs inexplicably came out without energy against Calgary on Friday night and managed to stay in the game for 55 minutes thanks to Jake Allen and Tyler Toffoli. However, the Flames were able to skate away with the 4-2 victory.
The Habs were the better team for 55 minutes, but a costly Jonathan Drouin penalty almost sent them reeling. They hung on after playing an inspired game to beat the Oilers 4-3 in a game that really did not deserve to be this close of a final score.
The Habs played a perfect road game for 40 minutes on Monday night and were leading 1-0 after two periods. They decided that was enough and let the Oilers walk all over them in the third and lost 4-1 despite Jake Allen doing his best to steal another game for his teammates.
It sure wasn’t a complete effort by the Habs, but it was far superior to Wednesday’s debacle and Jake Allen was able to cover for the rest as the Habs squeaked out a 2-1 victory against the Calgary Flames on Friday night.
The Habs played strong first and third periods on way to an important 4-2 win against the North Division’s top team in Toronto. Jake Allen was solid when he needed to be and new defensive pairings confirmed that Shea Weber and Joel Edmundson needed to be split up.
The Habs likely deserved a better outcome if one considers the entirety of Thursday night’s game. However, another slow start had them playing catch-up from the get-go and for a second straight night, they just didn’t have enough offence to overcome the bad start, falling 4-2 to Winnipeg.
Eric Staal’s debut with Montreal was an interesting one as the Habs dominated the first and third periods, held on in the second and in overtime and ultimately skated away with a 3-2 victory with the newcomer scoring the winner.
There was never much doubt on Thursday night as the Habs were the better team for 60 minutes. Allen made the few saves needed to secure the win and he finally got some goal support as Gallagher and Evans were particularly impressive in a 4-1 victory over Ottawa.
The well-rested Canadiens took full advantage of an Oilers team playing their third game in four nights on Tuesday in executing 60 minutes of complete domination. Considering the incoming schedule, a game that was not intense for the entirety of its 60 minutes of play was welcomed for the Habs as they skated away with a 4-0 win.
In a game that featured many momentum swings, the overall result was dictated by the Habs inability to hit the net. They stole a point that they more or less deserved but ultimately fell to Vancouver in overtime once again, bringing their extra time record to 0-9.