Don’t forget to take advantage of Crazy Friday to buy your chair for the parade!

From the way the Habs have been playing over the past two games, it’s clear that something is going right with the Canadiens.

After a 5-1 win over the Blue Jackets on Saturday, the Habs followed up yesterday with a 3-0 shutout of the Oilers at the Bell Centre. The club is on an interesting roll.

Those talking about coming back #InTheMix because of a few wins will have to wait a while, because the Habs are still last in the East as we speak.

You’ll have to wait before thinking about buying yourself a proverbial folding chair for the Stanley Cup parade…. and that’s even if the crazy Friday discounts are coming soon. And that’s even if I said otherwise in my headline.

As you can see, nobody does worse than the Habs’ .421 in the East.

But the fact remains that the Canadiens are looking good these days. They’ve given up just one goal in their last two games, and yesterday they silenced the Oilers’ big guns.

The people who came out to watch hockey at the Bell Centre were treated to a good show. And they were also treated to a pre-game tribute to Pierre Houde.

Yesterday, the club’s defensive game was on point and the effort was there. In what promises to be a difficult year, that’s what you need to see from the Habs if you want to talk about progress in rebuilding.

And if, on top of that, the Habs win once in a while (three wins in four games since last Monday’s game in Buffalo), maybe that’ll help the collective morale of Habs fans… if not the lottery.

The guys won’t be able to build on this performance until next Saturday, but in the dressing room after the game, they were happy to have won against a big club like Edmonton.

And they had plenty of reason to be.

1. Mike Matheson, who was without Kaiden Guhle for several minutes in the first period, was excellent at countering the opposition’s best players. Yesterday, Connor McDavid and his gang were shut out.

Matheson played over 24 minutes. With an assist and a +3 rating, he did what’s expected of him.

2. Samuel Montembeault has given up just one goal in his last two games. He’s given up just three goals in 10 periods since coming on in relief of Cayden Primeau last Monday.

Reminder: yesterday, Kyle Dubas (Team Canada) was on hand at the Bell Centre.

3. Defensively, everyone seemed to be playing to their strengths. Lane Hutson was stunning… Arber Xhekaj (who was very good) made his presence felt physically… Mike Matheson was the leader the club needed… Kaiden Guhle scored…

So much the better.

4. I don’t know what Brendan Gallagher has been putting into his Rice Krispies since the start of the year, but clearly, the recipe is working. He’s as committed as ever, but it’s paying off this year.

With his eight goals, he’s second on the team behind Cole Caufield’s 12. That’s quite something.

Brendan Gallagher’s 8th goal of the year comes off a nice deflection.

1-0 #GoHabsGo pic.twitter.com/f8rApIIa41

– Marc Dumont (@MarcPDumont) November 19, 2024

5. Nick Suzuki got an assist on Jake Evans’ goal (in an empty net). That gives him 19 points in 19 games. He’s on the best pace of his career.

No other Habs player is at a point per game right now.

6. Hats off to Mike Matheson (and the whole club) for clearing Connor McDavid, but that’s not a first. In reality, #97 really doesn’t have the habs number at the Bell Centre.

In 14 games, he has been blanked seven times in his career.

McDavid blanked for 7th time in 14 games at Bell Centre

Active arenas where McDavid has been blanked at least 50% of games (min. 4 games) :

Center Bell
Amalie Arena, Tampa Bay

– Guillaume Villemaire (@GVillemaire13) November 19, 2024

7. No goals were scored on special units, which helps the cause of the powerplay this season (81.8%, 10th in the league), but not the powerplay (21.5%, 12th in the league) for Martin St-Louis’ team.

Yesterday, on special units, the Oilers were 0-in-3. The Habs? 0-in-2.

Overtime

Today, the Habs players will enjoy a day of rest. They’ll be back in practice on Wednesday, in Brossard, in preparation for the game on… Saturday.

Will the group’s momentum carry through? That remains to be seen.

Big win for the Canadiens against the Oilers. On Saturday night, it will have the opportunity to stick a third consecutive win for only the second time in 2024.

– Alexandre Pratt (@alexandrepratt) November 19, 2024