In a perfect underlining of what ails the Montreal Canadiens, the final game of 2017 was a 2-0 shutout loss to the Florida Panthers on Saturday night.

Saturday’s Jekyll to Friday’s Hyde is a perfect example of why Montreal currently sits seven points out of the playoffs following a 4-1 loss at the hands of the Oilers. Luckily for the Habs, Antti Niemi kept the score respectable.

Montreal put together an excellent effort on Friday night and was rewarded with two points in the standings. Everyone chipped in and helped out, but the fourth line was once again the productive unit as they continue to put up important points on the board.

One of the main problems this season has been Montreal’s inability to stop opposition momentum as they allow consecutive goals which makes it near impossible to come back in games. Should the players, coaching, or management be held accountable?

Not only was Thursday’s game limited in scoring, it was also limited in terms of good offensive chances; this was a chess match of sorts. The end result was unsurprisingly close with the Habs taking it 2-1 in overtime.

Montreal was outplayed for the entire 60 minutes on Saturday night, losing 6-2 at the hands of the Oilers. They’ll have plenty of work and thinking to do over the four-day break that is now awarded to them.

In a game that included little scoring chances and passion, the Habs were unable to take advantage of a tired Flames team as they let a point slip away with a 3-2 overtime loss on Thursday night.

The win streak is over as the Habs fell 4-3 to the Blues in a game that was much closer than it should have been. The Blues dominated play with effective forechecking and Western Conference-style physicality for which the Habs had very little answer other than Carey Price.

In a game that was over almost as soon as the first puck was dropped, the Habs throttled the Wings 10-1 on Saturday night with all four lines getting in on the action and some unlikely heroes taking care of business.

The Canadiens showed some offensive opportunism in scoring a surprising six goals against Jimmy Howard and the Red Wings to pick up their fourth win in a row.