MONTREAL — Take a look at the current roster that continues to win games for the Montreal Canadiens.
There’s no denying Carey Price, Shea Weber, Max Pacioretty and Alexander Radulov are feature names, but that’s where it ends.
Sidelined by injury: Alex Galchenyuk, David Desharnais, Andrew Shaw and Andrei Markov. That’s four fifths of a power-play unit.
But the Canadiens continue to soldier on, propped up by the efforts of no-namers like Paul Byron and Torrey Mitchell, who best represent the everyone-matters mentality coach Michel Therrien has instilled this year.
“Everybody’s implicated, everyone is stepping up,” said Therrien in French after Montreal’s 5-1 over the Anaheim Ducks. “We’re well aware we’re missing key players, but players get assigned to different roles and take pride in what we’re asking them to do.”
It’s been apparent through the 21 wins the Canadiens have collected over 32 games played.
Take Phillip Danault who, in Galchenyuk’s absence, has gone from the third line to the first with Radulov and Pacioretty and helped the Canadiens collect 10 of 14 points available to them.
Byron and Mitchell combined for three points on Tuesday and carried the mail as part of an all-out assault that saw Montreal register 58 shot attempts to Anaheim’s 19.
Mandatory grain of salt: The Ducks were playing the second half of a back-to-back after registering a win in Toronto Monday. It was also their fifth game in a six-game road trip that will wrap in Ottawa. And the Canadiens were fresh off a 2-1 win over Washington on Saturday.
But none of that detracted from the dominant performance Montreal turned in—and the full team effort which epitomized how they’ve been winning games this season.
Tomas Plekanec and Pacioretty each had a goal.
Chris Terry got his first in a Canadiens uniform after fellow AHL callup Michael McCarron did the dirty work down low to set him up.
Defenceman Jeff Petry, who’s been tasked with stepping up in Markov’s absence, added a goal and two assists and played 25:07.
“He’s playing the best hockey of his career,” said Therrien.
Petry hadn’t been until a recent conversation with one of the assistant coaches stressed to him the importance of playing more aggressively.
“We hold each other accountable, and that’s very, very important,” said Pacioretty. “There’s no egos in this room, so we’re able to tell each other the right message at the right time. Sometimes it’s not going to be the most popular one.”
Each player is responding, making the Canadiens’ success thus far a function of being the sum of their parts.
Byron’s 11 goals and eight assists and Mitchell’s seven goals and six assists have had almost as much to do with Montreal’s standing as Pacioretty’s team-leading 23 points.
The former was a waiver-wire acquisition at the beginning of last season while Mitchell was traded to Montreal in March of 2015 for a seventh-round pick and Jack Nevins (who is currently playing in Quad City of the ECHL).
“I’m going to tell you a story,” said Therrien. “When we got Paulie, [GM Marc Bergevin] was not around the team and I said, ‘I think we picked up the wrong guy.’
“You look at him for the first time, and he’s a small player.”
But as Therrien also noted, Byron, who’s 5-foot-9 and weighs 160 pounds soaking wet, serves as an example to young players on how a small player’s compete level can turn him into a big one.
And when players like him are jumping from the waiver wire to the top-six forward group, it’s an indication that the coach is running a true meritocracy.
“It’s huge,” said Weber. “If those guys aren’t stepping up you’re not going to have success. And obviously those guys are, but also the guys coming up from [the St. John’s IceCaps] are asked to do a lot and they’re playing great as well.”
That’s just the way Montreal rolls.
When asked after Galchenyuk and Desharnais went down if he would adjust his strategy of employing four lines more than any other coach in the league does, Therrien smiled and said, “No.”
And it’s pretty clear as to why he’s sticking with it.
“It’s so frustrating,” said Canadiens defenceman Nathan Beaulieu. “The way we play, it just seems like as soon as you get the puck there’s someone on you. It’s the most annoying way to defend. The style we play must drive people crazy. And once you get past us, you have to deal with [Price].”
That formula is turning this unheralded Canadiens team into a force to be reckoned with.
