With the quarter mark recently having passed, we wrap up our first quarter report cards.  This time, the focus is on the goalies and defencemen.

Jake Allen had a strong showing in Colorado on Monday night but while he was able to steal the Habs one point, Montreal couldn’t come away with the other as the Avalanche picked up the 2-1 overtime victory.

The Habs made their first-ever visit to Mullett Arena in Arizona on Monday night to take on the Coyotes. The game was tied for the majority of regulation but Montreal picked up the extra point as Mike Hoffman buried the winner to give them the 3-2 victory.

The week got off to a decent start for the Habs but they were unable to sustain it as they dropped their last three for their second three-game losing streak of the season. Montreal also got some disappointing news on the prospect front with a pair of players being cut from Canada’s World Junior camp.

The Habs were looking to close out the home portion of their 2022 schedule on a winning note on Saturday night against Tampa Bay. It didn’t happen. They were down early and couldn’t recover, falling 5-2.

The grades have been tallied from the first quarter and we present our first quarter report cards for the forwards, with Montreal’s top young duo leading the way.

After falling to Ottawa on Wednesday, the Habs were back in action Thursday as they hosted the Ducks. Montreal played like a team that looked tired for most of the night and a late spark in the third wasn’t enough as they fell 5-2.

The Habs played a strong first and third on Wednesday in Ottawa, but they fell asleep in the second period and allowed a parade to the penalty box to sink them as Ottawa’s strong power play sunk them with Montreal dropping a 3-2 decision.

An extended 5-on-3 and a four-minute 4-on-3 weren’t enough to get the Habs a power play marker on Monday night, but the Habs displayed a gutsy effort and killed a long list of their own penalties to finally be able to beat the Flames 2-1 in a shootout in what was a wildly entertaining game.

This past week for the Habs kicked off with what will certainly be one of the more bizarre games of the season and ended with one of the more frustrating ones as they were more or less shut down by the Kings. Plus, some thoughts on some poor decisions when it comes to Montreal’s recent roster management.