1) There's no question that the Canadiens are worthy of the points they're putting up in the standings over this six game stretch, and certainly more worthy than they were in the first three weeks of the season.
The structure's become airtight in front of Carey Price and Dustin Tokarski, with the team allowing only seven goals against over this winning streak.
The goals are pouring in; 24 of them in six games.
The powerplay was 3/3 against Philadelphia after finally breaking through in the third period of the Boston game. They were blanked in Detroit, which still makes it nine games (all their road contests) without scoring a powerplay goal. But the momentum they're creating with the man-advantage was nowhere to be found before Sergei Gonchar hit their bench.
Miracle of miracles: The Habs finally scored in the first period. The streak stopped at 10 games without a first period goal. YUCK.
2) There's a strong internal competition in every facet of the team's game. Jiri Sekac and Michael Bournival helped push Travis Moen and Rene Bourque out. While Bournival nurses an injury, Sekac got this run started with Lars Eller and Brandon Prust.
Dale Weise--a healthy scratch earlier this year--is making nightly contributions on a line with a rotating winger while his partner Manny Malholtra takes care of all the minor details, not the least of which is winning faceoffs at an incredible rate.
Max Pacioretty's come alive. His linemates--David Desharnais and P.A Parenteau--carried the load in Philadelphia.
And last night, in Detroit, playing their fourth game in six nights, Alex Galchenyuk, Tomas Plekanec and Brendan Gallagher buried the Wings.
Seven defensemen are rotating while Bournival recovers. Mike Weaver and Nathan Beaulieu are battling for ice-time, both of them making good contributions in different facets of the game. The more time passes, the more likely it is that Michel Therrien uses Gonchar as a powerplay specialist.
P.K. Subban's game is up another level since they separated him and Markov on the powerplay. It's fairly obvious that he's treating the powerplay situation as a competition, and his play has markedly improved in his own end since the defensive rotation changed.
Tokarski doesn't have a leg in the race with Price, but boy is he inspiring confidence that if he needs to be leaned on, the team will be just fine.
3) This was Marc Bergevin's image of a team. Character, compete-level, speed, some size, quick puck movement, elite goaltending.
In a little more than a week, Bergevin took the players that didn't fit his image and changed the complexion of the team by adding Gonchar.
Sure, there will be times when Gonchar will cost some goals, and he'll look out of sorts in the speed match ups, and the Canadiens will lose again, and they'll lose consecutive games. But is anyone going to be dim enough to argue this wasn't a brilliant, low-risk decision by Bergevin?
4) The Canadiens are winning because everyone is immersed in their proper role and everyone is playing well.
They play at an alarming pace. The competition has stimulated this awakening.
It's not all great play. You need some luck too. The Habs were fortunate over this run that Boston and Philadelphia came in on the second night of back-to-back situations. But they were full value in taking out Detroit on no rest. It evens out.
5) Every game presents a new challenge. This week, the red-hot, league leading Canadiens welcome two division leaders Tuesday and Thursday, respectively.
First up, Pittsburgh. The Penguins have the best special teams in the league.
Second comes St. Louis. A team that dominated the Habs in their two contests last year.
6) Montreal ranks fifth in the league in 5-on-5 for and against, at an average of 1.26. Only Tampa Bay has scored more at 5-on-5, where the Canadiens have managed 39 goals. They've scored 41 goals at even strength, adding the two they managed at 4-on-4.
Now that their powerplay (not fully resurrected, but nearly ready to come off life support) is starting to help them more than it hurts them, they could very well become a dominant team.
7) Alright, we know the Canadiens are bottom of the barrel in goal differential in the first. So where do they stand in the second?
With 18 goals, they're in tenth place for second period scoring.
And the third?
With 26 goals, they're first in the league.
8) After 19 games, the Canadiens don't have a single player under 50% in the faceoff circle. For a team that chases the puck as much as they do, that statistic is pretty critical.
9) A departure from Montreal for a second.
The indignation and disgust when a favorite loses to a paltry underdog is laughable and quite stupid.
The Sabres stomped the Leafs on Saturday, and Toronto exploded. Reporters swarmed Phil Kessel in the room, and he told them "get away from me."
If Kessel doesn't want to take questions after a hard loss, all he has to do is leave the room, or not be there prior to reporters storming it. It's that simple. To sit there and tell them to go away is childish and completely unprofessional.
That aside, it's not always a given that the paltry underdog doesn't deserve to win. The Sabres--as bad as they are--weren't going to go 0-82 this year. I know the Toronto game is probably not a great example of a team trying to beat Buffalo and getting beat fair and square; in fact, their effort was pretty lousy in the contest.
But even bad teams can have a good game. They can even put together a string of good games.
The Florida Panthers beat Anaheim 6-2 last night. I'm sure radio hosts in Anaheim didn't have to talk anyone off the ledge after the game.
Calgary has a better record than Boston, Los Angeles, Chicago, the New York Rangers, San Jose, Minnesota, Washington, Colorado and Dallas.
10) Who's impressing you most on the Canadiens right now?
Montreal Canadiens Blogger • 
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