Which Montreal Canadiens team is the real one?
The one that has gone 4-10-1 against top-10 NHL teams, or the one that has dominated the rest of its opponents with a 25-3-6 record? Either way, the Habs can pride themselves in being amongst league leaders in goals per game (3.02 average, 7th overall), goals against (2.47 average, 6th place) and the power play, as they are ranked third overall in the NHL by converting on 23.3% of their chances.
One thing is for sure, they are not struggling to fend off their Atlantic Division rivals, as their 10-2-5 record would demonstrate. Fortunately for the Habs, the second-place Ottawa Senators (who have three games in hand) are 8 points behind head coach Michel Therrien’s troops.
The caveat? The team’s penalty kill continues to struggle mightily- surprisingly- as the team kills off 79.8% of its opponents’ man advantages, good for 23rd overall in the NHL.
Still, there is quite a lot to like about the 2016-2017 edition of the Canadiens, as their overall 29-13-7 record has them sitting in the 5th position behind the Pittsburgh Penguins, Minnesota Wild, Columbus Blue Jackets and Washington Capitals. There will be no epic collapse, as we’ve all witnessed last season, and it appears as though the traditional “slump… that the Habs go through shortly after the Holidays has already come and gone.
In my opinion, the team can only continue to trend in the right direction, and they will count on veteran forward Tomas Plekanec to find his groove once again. According to RDS’ Francois Gagnon, the 34-year-old has been suffering from an injury to his wrist that has caused him to struggle in finding the back of the net on a regular basis this season. Last night’s shorthanded goal against the Calgary Flames, his career 20th, helped him etch his name in the Habs’ record books. Only Guy Carbonneau (27) has more shorthanded tallies, and with another season to go on his contract, Plekanec can hope to pass Carbonneau’s achievement.
Meanwhile, David Desharnais began skating again earlier today, while Alex Galchenyuk will not travel to Brooklyn to take on the New York Islanders.
NOTE: It turns out that 89.66% of the 445 respondents in my last poll were right in assuming that Galchenyuk will be out longer than anticipated. Initially, he was supposed to miss only one game after re-injuring his knee, but will be re-evaluated after this weekend’s All-Star festivities.
Kudos to the sceptics!
Today’s poll asks: