Four games does not make a season, but fans of the Canadiens have to be extremely pleased with the way their team has presented itself through those challenges.
Last night's win was another character performance for a team that blew two-goal leads twice in the game.
As all of Montreal's press corps noted, Pierre Gauthier was in attendance for the game. The first period for the Canadiens was probably the best he's watched there in two seasons.
The Devils, who hadn't allowed more than 10 shots in a period in any of their first three games, were harassed by 16 from Canadiens shooters in the opening frame-- two of them finding the back of the net.
Ryan White scored his first goal since 2010-11; the third of his career. It may have been the easiest goal he's scored at any level of hockey, but he made the tough decision to get in Brodeur's kitchen to make it happen, much to the delight of his new coach.
Alex Galchenyuk made a savvy play, riffling a bullet-pass to Brendan Gallagher who deposited his first NHL goal in style. Galchenyuk stared off Brodeur and brought the fans to their feet with veteran poise. His assist on Brandon Prust's first as a Canadien was critical, as the Devils put on their rally caps for rest of the third period.
Erik Cole, who's struggled out of the gate, made arguably the most important play of the game by drawing Andy Greene in for a holding penalty in overtime. And Andrei Markov did what he's become accustomed to doing early this season; he won the game on the powerplay. Make that three in a row...
Since the first game the Habs played stimulated a lot of comparisons to last season, let's contrast what we've seen in the three games subsequent.
Mitch Melnick points out in his "The good, the bad & the ugly" blog today that it took the Canadiens 10 games to win their first three.
Game #9 of their 2011-12 flop kick-started a four-game winning streak for the Habs-- a feat they repeated in early February.
Whopper: Not a single winning streak for the Habs aside from those two. Not a single three-game streak before, in between or after.
The powerplay, ranked 28th in the league last season, is clicking at 27.3%.
Last year's Habs would've folded like a swissroll with the announcement of an injury likely to keep Pacioretty out for nearly a third of the season.
Last year's Habs would've been hard-pressed to win two-straight games without P.K. Subban on the roster.
Last year's Habs did not have Andrei Markov-- at least not this Andrei Markov.
Last year, Brian Gionta was a Captain, largely in spirit and less so in play. After struggling out of the gate, a horrific injury ended his season, leaving Tomas Plekanec without a bridge to walk on.
Last year, Rene Bourque couldn't be found hiding in plain sight.
The bottom lines of last year's Habs roster had a rotation of Brad Staubitz, Louis Leblanc, Andreas Engqvist, Blake Geoffrion, Michael Blunden, Petteri Nokelainen, Mathieu Darche, Yannick Weber and the dearly departed Scott Gomez at different times. There was no rhyme or reason, no jam, no chemistry, no secondary scoring, and the intimidation factor was negligible.
Four games is four games, but these are not last year's Habs.
White, Moen and Armstrong are a dependable fourth line with parts that can contribute at key moments of the game. Last night, they generated a goal. Armstrong and Moen chipped in on the penalty kill. And Moen completed a line with Desharnais and Cole to fend off a mounting Jersey attack in the final minutes of the third period.
For now, the third line consists of Brandon Prust, Brendan Gallagher and Alex Galchenyuk. All three have brought more energy to the Canadiens in four games than they got out of that famous rotation listed above for all of last season.
Pacioretty's injury in this shortened season makes it all but impossible for the Canadiens to send the two Gallys away. Pacioretty or not, the kids have made a strong enough case for their inclusion. When the news becomes official (sometime shortly after the Jets and Canadiens do battle Tuesday) Prust is likely to be the happiest of all three.
(NOTE: Habs have just announced both Gallagher and Galchenyuk will remain with the team, 10:55am)
The second line looks like the new first line. Bourque may have missed too many chances last night, but he's manufactured more of them in four games than he did in 38 last season.
There's no stat for it, but I can think of only two victories the Habs earned last season in which Carey Price wasn't their best player-- a four goal performance by Lars Eller (not counting the games Budaj played). There was also that 7-2 pounding of the Red Wings.
Price has been sensational so far-- arguably the best in the league. He was the only reason they didn't lose badly to the Leafs in their season opener, and he was sensational in two wins over Florida and Washington. In game four, you couldn't single out anyone in particular, but when he was less than sharp, Price had his teammates dig out the win for him.
Generally, you wait until the 10-game mark to judge a team's performance. With half a season gone, make that five. Habs have an 'A' as a grade on their season to date.
That buzzword--character--we're about to see how much of it Therrien's Canadiens possess.
How will they respond to losing Pacioretty for what's been predicted as 3-4 weeks (we'll see if he maintains his reputation as a guy who heals quicker than expected)?
How will they fare without Subban until he signs?
How will the Canadiens manage to continue to win games without five-on-five contributions from David Desharnais and Erik Cole?
How will the Habs handle their first big challenge of the season, two back-to-back situations in a week-- against teams that are playing well in the Jets and Senators, and against a Sabres team that has as much to prove as the Canadiens do?
The team's served early notice that they are what their general manager wants them to be; harder to play against. Other teams are aware, and that means the competition ramps up a level moving forward.
Montreal Canadiens Blogger • 
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