By Stevo, AllHabs.net

MONTREAL, QC.– The Montreal Canadiens are coming off of a good week picking up five out of a possible six points available over the course of their three games.  After a meltdown at home against the Edmonton Oilers, losing the game in overtime, the Habs put up two solid efforts without P.K. Subban in the line-up, putting together wins against the New Jersey Devils and San Jose Sharks.

After 27 games, the Habs now sit fifth overall with 36 points (17-8-2) and they are third in the Eastern Conference behind the Washington Capitals (18-8-2) and Philadelphia Flyers. (17-7-4)  It doesn’t seem to matter whether they are playing home or away, the Habs have almost double the wins than they do losses in both areas.  (10-4-2 at home, 7-4-0 away)

Tomas Plekanec continues to quarterback the Habs offence, leading all players with 25 points (9-16), six more then Andrei Kostitsyn (9-10) who is just behind.

Jeff Halpern, Mathieu Darche and Alex Picard lead the team in the +/- category with a differential of +9 each.

Brian Gionta who was off to a rough start is finding his game.  He now has eight goals and eight assists, leads the team with three game winning goals, has two power play goals, and leads the team in shots with 108, 29 more then Mike Cammalleri who’s trailing behind.

Josh Gorges (21:39) and Roman Hamrlik (21:14) are mules on defence and lead the team in average ice time, honourable mention to P.K. Subban who averages just a little under them at 20:48.

Speaking of P.K. Subban, what will Jacques Martin do this upcoming Tuesday against the Ottawa Senators?  Does he break his winning line-up and put Subban back into the line-up, or does sit him out for a third consecutive game to ensure Subban really gets the message?  Check out two different perspectives on the subject as Rick and myself give our views on the subject.

Carey Price.  What have we not said about Carey Price so far this year?  He continues to chug along like an immovable train, set on a set destination with no intention of setting foot on the break pedal.  Here’s a quick look at his stats so far this season:

• Games played: 25 (1st)
• Wins: 16 (1st)
• G.A.A.: 1.96 (5th)
• Saves: 702 (1st)
• Sv%: .935 (3rd)
• SO: 4 (2nd)
• TOI: 1,502:55 (1st)

Price gives the Montreal Canadiens a chance to win every night and its no wonder all of his talent, hard work and maturity are finally being recognized this year.

Things are all golden and beautiful right now but without a doubt, at some point this season, you would imagine Price will have a slump.  He’s only human and rarely do any players go through a season without one, goaltenders, forwards and defensemen alike.  I wonder how fans will react if and when this happens, as there is still a lot of hockey to be played this season.

Although the Habs play back to back games both this week and the next, I really don’t see Alex Auld playing his third game of the season until the end of the month.  Price should get the start against Ottawa this Tuesday, and will be well rested for Friday’s game against the Red Wings, who currently are first in the Wester Conference with 37 points.  The Habs then play the Leafs on Saturday, but have three days off following it, so I’d imagine Price gets that start as well.  After the three days off, the Habs play back to back games before getting another two days off so I don’t see why it would be necessary to rest Price there as well.  The final week of the month see’s the Canadiens playing four games in six nights, including back to back games, and I’d imagine Alex Auld won’t be in the Habs line-up prior to the 31st, when they play the Florida Panthers.

On to the Habs’ three games this week, they play Tuesday before back to back games on Friday and Saturday.  And thus:

The good: Detroit Red Wings  (1st in the West)
The bad: Ottawa Senators  (3-6-1 in their last 10 games)
The ugly: Toronto Maple Leafs (Sorry, too easy)

Here’s the week at a glance:

Week at a Glance:

Ottawa Senators (Tuesday December 7th)

• Match-up:  Division.
• Record:  12-14-2.  (3-6-1 in their last 10)
• Rank:  9th in the East.
• Streak:  1 win (3-1) against the New York Rangers.
• Leading scorers:  Daniel Alfredsson (8-10), 3 players tied with 14 points.
• Upcoming:  Played the Rangers this afternoon, don’t play until Tuesday in Montreal.

*****

Detroit Red Wings (Friday December 10th)

• Match-up:  Cross-Conference.
• Record:  17-4-3.  (7-1-2 in their last 10)
• Rank:  1st in the West.
• Streak:  1 loss (3-2 OT) against Los Angeles Kings.
• Leading scorers:  Pavel Datsyuk (8-21) and Henrik Zetterberg (9-16).
• Upcoming:  Host the San Jose Sharks (12-9-4) Monday, and host the Nashville Predators (12-8-5) on Wednesday prior to playing the Habs on Friday.

*****

Toronto Maple Leafs (Saturday December 11th)

• Match-up:  Division.
• Record:  9-12-4.  (4-5-1 in their last 10)
• Rank:  13th in the East.
• Streak:  1 win (3-2) SO against Boston Bruins on Saturday.
• Leading Scorers:  Clarke MacArthur (7-12) and Mikhail Grabovski (5-11).
• Upcoming:  Play host to the Washington Capitals (18-8-2) on Monday, The Pittsburgh Penguins (18-8-2) on Wednesday and Philadelphia Flyers (17-7-4) on Thursday, prior to visiting the Habs on Saturday.

*****

Predictions anyone?

(Graphic: Fred Chartrand, AP)