The Montreal Canadiens had an up and down month of October. Here are report card grades for every single player who suited up for the Habs so far this season.
The Montreal Canadiens got off to an inconsistent start to the 2019-20 season. They often found themselves trailing by multiple goals in third periods, but were able to mount a few comebacks to steal points in games that looked lost.
They were down by two to the Carolina Hurricanes in their opening game but came back to get a point and lose in the shootout. They trailed by three to the Toronto Maple Leafs in their next game but were able to come all the way back and win that one in a shootout. Then, they fell behind to the Buffalo Sabres by a pair of goals in the third period, but tied it up before losing in the shootout.
They fell behind again in their fourth game of the year and first one on home ice but weren’t able to steal any points in the standings against the Detroit Red Wings. This left them with some troubling trends to fix, but a 1-1-2 record that wasn’t all that bad.
The Habs would win three of their next four games, apparently righting the ship in the process. Then they lost back to back games to the Minnesota Wild and San Jose Sharks who are both struggling teams which reopened the “are they any good” debate.
The Canadiens impressively finished off the season with a home win against the Toronto Maple Leafs and road victories on consecutive nights over the Arizona Coyotes and Vegas Golden Knights.
This left them with a 7-4-2 record for the month of October. That’s 16 points in the standings in 13 contests which is a pace that would see them finish the year with 101 points and certainly make the postseason.
So, with an inconsistent start and a strong finish to the month in the books, it’s time to give out report card grades for each player on the team for the month of October.