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 third quarter of the season has now come and gone which means it’s time for the next round of our report cards. As always, we begin with the goalies and defencemen.

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.

Montreal’s recall situation has come up frequently in recent days. Here is an overview of the rule, how the Habs have used all but one already, and the benefits and drawbacks of using that last one now.

This past week was a roller coaster for Montreal fans. It started strong and ended ugly but at the end of the day, they played the .500 hockey that’s probably needed to help them secure the final playoff spot in the North Division.

The Habs were looking to make it two wins in as many days as they hosted Ottawa on Saturday afternoon. However, they put forth another subpar performance, falling 4-0 in the process.

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 trade deadline came and went with the Habs being relatively quiet aside from some tinkering on the back end. Our writers discuss the Mete, Merrill, and Gustafsson moves.

The Habs went into Wednesday’s game against Calgary looking to hammer home that the final playoff spot is theirs. It didn’t happen. Instead, they put forth another poor effort and paid for it with the Flames walking away with a 4-1 victory.