After stealing two points from the Detroit Red Wings on an Alex Galchenyuk overtime beauty of a goal set up by Alexander Radulov, the Montreal Canadiens continue their five-game road trip as they head out west. They’ll take on the Anaheim Ducks tomorrow night (10:00pm ET) before paying a visit to the San Jose Sharks on Friday, Los Angeles Kings on Sunday and the St. Louis Blues on December 6th.

With a 16-4-2 record, the Habs are still the NHL’s leading team with 34 points. They have one game in hand over the second-place New York Rangers and third overall Chicago Blackhawks, both of whom have three points less than Michel Therrien’s troops.

The timing of this road trip is opportune, as it will allow the players to not only further acquaint themselves with each other and add to their team chemistry but also to get away from all of the media noise that the Montreal market is notoriously known for. In my opinion, the time away from home will be especially beneficial to captain Max Pacioretty as well as his line mates Tomas Plekanec and Brendan Gallagher.

Most followers of the Habs have no issues with singling Pacioretty or Plekanec out for a relatively subpar start to their season, while Gallagher gets a free pass.

Many have argued that Gallagher’s work ethic compensates for a lack of scoring, though strangely enough he had the tendency to play on the perimeter as opposed to customarily parking himself in front of the goaltenders in recent games. He finally got the monkey off of his back by doing exactly that as he deflected a shot for his first goal in 15 games last Saturday against the Detroit Red Wings. Pacioretty scored in the previous game, while Plekanec assisted on both goals. In their last two games as a unit, all three have combined for five points, and I believe that Therrien deserves credit for putting them together and telling them to work it out as veteran leaders.

But a road trip out west raises an interesting question: what do the Montreal Canadiens have to prove?

My answer to that is simple: it’s actually a matter of what the Western Conference teams have to show. The Habs demonstrated time and time again that they are one of the best teams in the National Hockey League, and that their playing style emphasizes speed and skill over size and physicality. The narrative implies that teams in the West, especially in California, will win more hockey games because they have the physical edge over smaller teams. However, I’m not wholly convinced that the Habs will be completely outmuscled and certainly not dominated in any way.

After all, their power play is clicking at 22.4% (best for fifth overall), their goals-against average of 2.14 is second-best in the league, and they are fifth in goals per game with an average of 3.05. That last number is staggering, considering that the likes of Pacioretty, Shaw, Gallagher, Plekanec, Desharnais, and Artturi Lehkonen have combined for a little less than 30% (20/67) of the total number of goals the team has scored thus far this season.

With that in mind, I expect the Habs to give the teams many consider to be “powerhouses” a real run for their money, and unless the next four opponents adjust their styles accordingly, I predict that the Canadiens should come back to Montreal with an additional six out of a possible eight points (8/10 if you count the win against Detroit).

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