The Canadiens have been among the elite in the East for two months.

Dose
Crédit:

If someone had told me two months ago that the CH would be in the top 8 of the East on January 7, I must admit I would have had a hard time believing it. Heavy defeats were relatively frequent at that time… and the club didn’t seem like a team in the mix.

That said, with a victory against the Canucks last night, the Tricolore is currently in the playoff picture. There is still a lot of hockey to be played, but we are really talking about a transformed team.

Obviously, there has been a lot of talk about the club’s strong streak since Patrik Laine’s return and Alexandre Carrier’s arrival. However, in November, the Canadiens were already starting to win a little more… until they became dominant in December.

But all this means that when we look at the team’s numbers over the past two months (since November 10, to be precise, when they were alone in the last place in the NHL), we see that the CH has a record of 15-9-1. This means they have earned 62% of the possible points on the table…

And as noted by Arpon Basu, that places the team in third place in the East. Only the Maple Leafs and Capitals are ahead of Martin St-Louis’ squad.

This means that for two months, the CH is not just a good team: it is clearly part of the elite in the East. The Panthers, Devils, Hurricanes, and others: they all have a lower points percentage than the Tricolore since November 10th.

It should also be noted that in the entire NHL, there are only six teams that have won more games than the CH since November 10th.

Of course, one may wonder if the CH will be able to keep up the pace. The depth of the team is not huge beyond the 20 regular players, so a long-term injury to a key player could be problematic for a machine that is currently running smoothly.

But for now, fans are right to appreciate their club’s successes: the CH plays like a team that is not only in the mix, but is causing serious damage over the last two months.

It’s no wonder that “Martin St-Louis” is slowly starting to rhyme with “Jack Adams candidate”…

In a nutshell

– This trio is playing some serious hockey.

– Indeed.

– Dan Bylsma does not like the critiques aimed at the Pride jerseys. [Hockey Feed]

– The guys in the CH locker room believe in themselves.