Habs Weekly: Canadiens are Starting to Look Tired

It would be fair to say that the Habs had their struggles this past week.  On the other hand, they still managed to come out of their games with five of a possible eight points, good enough to keep them in the top three in the increasingly tight Atlantic Division.

The Week That Was

Jan. 12: Canadiens 6, Canucks 3 – With Vancouver still looking for their first win of 2026, this was one of those ‘need to get’ games for Montreal.  It took them a little while to get going – Nikita Tolopilo was sharp in goal for the Canucks to start – but eventually, they were able to pour things on offensively.  Alexandre Carrier scored twice in 20 seconds (the first defenceman to do so since 1971) and from there, it was all Montreal to end their home stand on a high note.

Jan. 13: Capitals 3, Canadiens 2 (OT) – Things were looking good for the Habs for a while.  They had a 2-0 lead after 40 minutes and did quite well keeping Washington relatively quiet.  Unfortunately, the realities of five games in seven days (with travel for this one) caught up to them as the rest of the game saw the Canadiens on their heels to the point where they were lucky to get a point.  They did well killing off a penalty in overtime but soon after, Connor McMichael buried the winner with just 39 seconds left to give the Caps the win.

Jan. 15: Sabres 5, Canadiens 3 – Each year, Buffalo generally has one big run in them where everything seems to fall into place.  They’re in the middle of it right now and it’s extended longer than usual, allowing them to get back into the playoff picture.  Both power plays were potent in this one with a pair of goals, Nick Suzuki’s being the last one to give Montreal the lead back early in the second period.  But even with a shaky Colten Ellis in net at the other end, the Habs couldn’t generate much of an attack while Tage Thompson capped off a five-point night with a pair of goals in the third that were the difference.

Jan. 17: Canadiens 6, Senators 5 (OT) – Once again, things looked good early.  Two power play goals and a goaltender (Leevi Merilainen) that was really fighting it at the other end.  But after the first period, Ottawa stepped up its game considerably and the Habs had no match for them, failing to generate much in the way of shot attempts let alone shots that actually hit the net.  With less than five minutes left, Montreal opted for an early goalie pull and scored right after before Carrier tied the game a minute later.  From there, Cole Caufield scored in overtime, giving the Canadiens two points they didn’t remotely earn.

StatPack

Skaters:

#	Player	GP	G	A	+/-	PIMS	SOG	ATOI
8	Mike Matheson	4	1	1	+3	2	4	24:22
11	Brendan Gallagher	4	1	0	-1	2	8	11:32
13	Cole Caufield	4	3	3	+3	2	15	18:19
14	Nick Suzuki	4	1	5	+2	2	8	20:31
17	Josh Anderson	3	2	1	+1	2	4	12:57
20	Juraj Slafkovsky	4	3	2	-2	0	7	18:23
21	Kaiden Guhle	3	0	0	-2	4	2	16:51
24	Phillip Danault	4	0	2	-2	4	9	14:45
27	Samuel Blais	3	0	0	E	2	2	8:18
45	Alexandre Carrier	4	3	0	+2	2	5	20:12
47	Jayden Struble	1	0	0	E	0	0	9:44
48	Lane Hutson	4	0	6	+1	2	5	24:19
53	Noah Dobson	4	1	2	E	2	7	23:37
62	Owen Beck	1	0	0	E	0	0	11:03
71	Jake Evans	1	0	0	+1	0	0	15:20
72	Arber Xhekaj	4	0	0	-4	17	1	10:02
76	Zachary Bolduc	4	0	1	-4	0	3	12:34
85	Alexandre Texier	4	0	2	+1	0	7	15:35
90	Joe Veleno	4	0	0	E	2	2	13:06
91	Oliver Kapanen	4	1	0	-2	2	10	17:24
93	Ivan Demidov	4	1	4	+2	2	9	15:27

Goalies:

#	Player	Record	GAA	SV%	SO
32	Jacob Fowler	0-1-0	4.13	.846	0
35	Samuel Montembeault	1-0-1	3.87	.895	0
75	Jakub Dobes	1-0-0	3.00	.870	0

Team Leaders:

Goals: Cole Caufield (24)
Assists: Lane Hutson (42)
Points: Nick Suzuki (54)
+/-: Nick Suzuki (+18)
PIMS: Arber Xhekaj (102)
Shots: Cole Caufield (143)

News And Notes

– The Habs got some good news on the injury front with Josh Anderson and Jake Evans both returning to the lineup, the latter coming off LTIR for Saturday’s game.

– As a result, Owen Beck along with Jacob Fowler were assigned back to Laval.  It wasn’t all bad news for Fowler, however, as his game against Buffalo before his demotion earned him a $30,000 games played bonus.

– Lane Hutson became the second-fastest defenceman in NHL history to record 100 assists, doing so in 132 games.  The fastest was Sergei Zubov, who did so in 127 outings.  For a modern day comparison, it took Cale Makar 140 games to reach 100 helpers.

– The Canadiens are the first team to have five players reach the 40-point mark this season.  For context, they only had four players hit the mark in 2024-25.  Realistically, Noah Dobson and Oliver Kapanen both have chances to get to 40 by the end of the season as well.

Last Game’s Lines:

Caufield – Suzuki – Texier
Slafkovsky – Kapanen – Demidov
Gallagher – Danault – Anderson
Veleno – Evans – Bolduc

Matheson – Dobson
Hutson – Carrier
Guhle – Xhekaj

The Week Ahead

Tuesday vs Minnesota – Given how much the Habs tend to struggle against the Wild, there is never a good time to be playing them.  But this might be as good a time as any.  Minnesota will be on the back half of a back-to-back with travel, playing their third game in four nights.  Their entire second line is injured (headlined by Matt Boldy), as is their top shutdown defender, Jonas Brodin.  The Wild are still one of the top teams in the league, however, and both goalies have been quite sharp so even with the spot they’re in, this will be a tough game for the Canadiens.

Thursday vs Buffalo – Yes, them again.  They lost their last game to Minnesota but not a lot has changed since these teams last met.  Josh Norris was supposed to be out just day-to-day but his status has been downgraded to week-to-week so he shouldn’t be back for this one (or next week’s matchup potentially).  The Sabres sit three points behind the Habs with two games in hand so needless to say, this will be a big one.

Saturday at Boston – The Bruins have been one of the bigger surprises this season as they’re a team that, on paper, doesn’t look like much of a scoring threat but they’re only four goals behind the Habs (who sit third in the league in goals scored).  David Pastrnak and Morgan Geekie continue to lift the bulk of the load offensively while Jeremy Swayman has vastly improved over a tough performance last season.  Offseason addition Viktor Arvidsson, acquired for cheap from Edmonton in a cap-clearing move, has done rather well for the Bruins, picking up 25 points in 37 games to help lead a second scoring line.

Final Thought

If you were to ask Jacob Fowler, this past week probably wasn’t great.  He had a tough outing against the Sabres and was sent to the minors which is quite the cut in pay.  But, after going through the initial disappointment, I hope he realizes that his time with the big club was pretty successful overall.

Fowler certainly started out strong with a win against Pittsburgh before shutting them out barely a week later.  Yes, he struggled over the last few games but he certainly showed enough to justify the ‘goalie of the future’ title that he has held since being drafted in the third round in 2023.

At a time when Samuel Montembeault and Jakub Dobes looked jumpy (for lack of a better term), Fowler was calm, perhaps to a fault.  He’s a technical goalie, something the other two aren’t but fans are more than familiar with going back to Carey Price’s time with the team.  There’s a strong foundation to build upon but there’s also a reason that goalies typically take longer to develop.  He needs maximum game reps and if management is content with using the other two moving forward, Laval is where he’ll get them.  But if injuries arise or someone struggles, he showed enough that he can be counted on.  That’s a great impression to leave from a first NHL recall.