2019-20 Montreal 2nd Quarter Grades: Defence and Goalies
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The midway point of the season has recently passed so it’s time for our next set of grades over the second quarter. First up, the focus will be on the goalies and defencemen.
The midway point of the season has recently passed so it’s time for our next set of grades over the second quarter. First up, the focus will be on the goalies and defencemen.
The Canadiens didn’t have much time to dwell on their disappointing game against the Blackhawks on Wednesday as they were back in action on Thursday in Philadelphia. They got a lead early in the second period and rode it to a big 4-1 victory.
The Habs kicked off a back-to-back set of games on Wednesday as they hosted Chicago. They came out flat and never really got going as they fell 4-1.
The Habs were looking to win back-to-back games for the first time in nearly a month as they took on Calgary on Monday night. While they only managed a pair of goals, it was enough as Carey Price had his second straight strong start in a 2-0 victory.
The woeful start to 2020 continued for the Habs this past week as they dropped three more games before managing to snap their second eight-game losing streak of the season in Ottawa.
The Habs were in Ottawa on Saturday night to take on the Senators in a battle of two teams mired in long losing streaks. Despite another blown lead in the third period, Ilya Kovalchuk’s first goal in a Montreal uniform gave them the winner in overtime as they took it 2-1.
It has been a rough ride in Habs land as of late; with injuries and losses starting to pile up it can be tough to see the positives. However, the HabsWorld readers managed to find some bright spots in December.
It was more of the same on Thursday night. The Habs controlled the puck more than Edmonton but some untimely mistakes and blown coverages came back to haunt them as they fell 4-2 to extend their losing streak to eight straight games.
Just 24 hours after a disappointing loss against the Jets, the Habs were back in action, taking on the Red Wings in Detroit. It was the same old story on Tuesday for the Habs, as once again they found themselves on the wrong side of a one-goal game, falling 4-3.
Last week, Marc Bergevin made some tweaks to his roster with the acquisitions of Marco Scandella and Ilya Kovalchuk. Having had some time to ponder both moves, our writers offer up their thoughts on the pickups.