There’s some sort of circular beauty in the fifth week of a top-five commentary. Your Habs played three times this week, and there were moments on every segment of the spectrum. Who was good? Who was bad? (That’s right. Fab Friday’s don’t have to be seen through rouge tinted glasses.) The States are in turmoil, but the Habs are treading water. This is your Fab Five Friday.

Game Results:

Detroit 0 @ Montreal 5

Montreal 2 @ Chicago 3

Florida 4 @ Montreal 3 (OT)

Weekly Record 1-1-1 (3 points)

Total Record: 13-2-2, 1st place in the NHL (28 Points)

Scoring:

Click Table for Enlarged Image

Goaltending:

Carey Price: 1-0-1, shutout, .918 Save Percentage

Al Montoya: 0-1-0, .914 Save Percentage

And now for the CHaracter aspect of our program. Here’s your Fab Five:

5) David Desharnais Might be Done

We’re going to sort through the ugly stuff before we get to the fun. Can’t eat your pudding if you don’t have your meat. Michel Therrien pleased a majority of Habs fans last week when he announced David Desharnais would sit out against the Los Angeles Kings. The diminutive Franco-Forward would have continued to watch his team from the press box had Brian Flynn stayed healthy, but that didn’t happen. Desharnais pulled back into the lineup against the Red Wings, playing on the fourth line while early standout Philip Danault moved up the lineup.

Fans have been waiting for this day for a long time now. It would appear that David Desharnais has finally fallen out of favor with team management, and is only going to be used in times of emergency. But what do you do with him? Buying him out would not be financially responsible as Montreal would be on the hook for part of his salary for this year and next, but you also cannot bury his whole contract in the minors. What about trading him and all of his $3.5 million cap hit? Not likely. Marc Bergevin might be able to negotiate a trade where half the salary is retained, but even that seems farfetched. There aren’t many teams that will be willing to take on salary this early in the season. I’m not sure what the future holds for David Desharnais, but I have one certainty. I’m certain Desharnais is playing his last season with the Canadiens.

4) Andrew Shaw’s Productive Week

Just over a week ago, I wrote about Andrew Shaw and what he should do to be successful. I’m happy to report he didn’t do any of the things I suggested, and he was more effective than I could have imagined. It was worth a shot. Shaw was not a bystander in the offensive zone; he was a catalyst. On a Frankenstein line with Max Pacioretty and Philip Danault, Shaw developed chemistry in the offensive zone and put together a solid weekend of games. After chipping in a goal and an assist in the Habs’ 5-0 rout of Detroit, Shaw put together his best game of the season in his old rink in Chicago. In the loss to the Hawks, Shaw was Montreal’s best forward and had several scoring chances including two highlight reel saves by Corey Crawford. I’m not sure how much longer Shaw, Pacioretty and Danault will be together, but Coach Therrien deserves credit for putting them together, and Shaw deserves credit for his phenomenal play.

3) How Fast was Paul Byron?

This is going to be a regular segment on Fab Five Friday, so get used to it. The answer this week? Pretty fast.

You know Paul Byron should be shooting a free throw after getting fouled on that goal. #Jokes #GoHabsGo 2 #RedWings 0 pic.twitter.com/BK2PCJjFq6

— MyScores.ca (@MyScoresCa) November 13, 2016

Byron burnt the Detroit defense to the tune of a 2-0 Montreal lead. The defender’s effort was heroic, but ultimately useless as a diving poke-check at full speed was still not enough to catch the speedy multi-tool.

2) Carey. Price.

As Habs fans, we’re a bit spoiled. Every game, we get to watch the best goaltender in the league and sometimes I think we take it for granted. At least I do.

Carey Price is turning in another MVP caliber season, and saves like this distance him from the rest of the pack.

Okay, well maybe that’s just luck. Nope. Watch Price’s head and the movement from his blocker. After committing to the poke-check, Price follows Sasha Barkov’s puck handling and makes the miraculous OT save that kept the Habs in the game for the time being. Aaron Ekblad would eventually score on a shot that decimated his own stick before deflecting of Nathan Beaulieu’s leg and beating Carey Price.

That’s what it takes to beat Carey Price, I guess.

1)  Alex Galchenyuk is Making Things Happen

Despite three goal-less games, the Habs’ number one center managed to lead the team in points with four assists. Alex Galchenyuk has blossomed alongside Alexander Radulov, and if those two are together, the last linemate is almost irrelevant. While Paul Byron was given the last spot on the top line, there are times where you could put a defender on the left wing and the line would still be successful. Like when Galchenyuk made a drop pass to Andrei Markov to give the Habs the lead in Chicago:

Markov with a snipe that beats Crawford. 2-1 #Habs pic.twitter.com/4wpzx3RlcH

— Marc Dumont (@MarcPDumont) November 14, 2016

All Russian top line with two forwards and a defenseman? Let’s keep an open mind.

That was the week that was, so what about the week to be?

Friday November 18: MTL @ CAR (7:00 pm)

Saturday November 19: TOR @ MTL (7:00 pm)

Tuesday November 22: OTT @ MTL (7:30 pm)

Thursday November 24: CAR @ MTL (7:30 pm)

A busy five-game week for the Habs will be filled with story lines, so make sure to check back in with Rabidhabs for game blogs from A.J. Bassett and check out our morning-after mini pods from Zach Vanasse.

Follow me on Twitter @BoisvertIan and follow @Rabidhabs for more updates!