It looked as if Montreal was heading for yet another loss on Thursday when St. Louis scored late in regulation. However, Cole Caufield tied it up in the dying seconds and scored the overtime winner for good measure, giving the Habs a 3-2 victory and ending their ten-game losing streak.
The Habs made their first big seller trade earlier this week when they shipped Tyler Toffoli to Calgary for a 2022 first-round pick, a 2023 fifth-rounder, prospect Emil Heineman, and winger Tyler Pitlick. Our writers provide their thoughts on the move.
It was a busy week both on and off the ice for the Habs as their struggles led to a coaching change and a big trade up front. However, while Montreal has played better since that time, it hasn’t resulted in any on-ice success as four more losses this week extended their current slide to ten games.
New GM Kent Hughes promised that the recent coaching change wasn’t going to be the only notable change made and that proved true on Monday as the Habs traded winger Tyler Toffoli to Calgary.
Both the Habs and the Sabres did their best to not play any defence and this favoured the Sabres as Craig Anderson was able to outsave Samuel Montembeault as Buffalo skated away with a 5-3 win on Sunday afternoon.
Samuel Montembeault had one of his strongest performances of the season on Saturday afternoon against Columbus but he couldn’t get much goal support. In the end, a power play goal from Patrik Laine in the dying seconds of regulation time was the difference-maker as the Habs fell 2-1.
With Cayden Primeau struggling and Samuel Montembeault playing through injury, it was only a matter of time before the Habs added a goalie. They did so on Saturday, acquiring Andrew Hammond from Minnesota in exchange for winger Brandon Baddock.
The decision to let Dominique Ducharme go as head coach wasn’t too surprising but the appointment of Martin St. Louis as interim head coach certainly was. Our writers weigh in on the coaching change in Montreal.
Despite a solid effort from the team on Thursday night, the Habs were let down by their goaltending as the Capitals scored four times on their first 15 shots on their way to best Montreal 5-2 despite being outshot 44-23.
The Habs have found their replacement for Dominique Ducharme and it’s someone that certainly wasn’t on the radar as long-time NHL winger Martin St-Louis has been named as their new interim head coach.