The sixth Friday of the Habs’ season is upon us, and while most Americans are indulging in Black Friday sales, I’d rather talk about the week that was for your Montreal Canadiens. I’m broke. This is the Fab Five Friday.

Game Results:

Montreal 2 @ Carolina 3

Toronto 1 @ Montreal 2

Ottawa 4 @ Montreal 3

Carolina 1 @ Montreal 2

Record:

This Week: 2-2-0 (4 points)

Overall: 15-4-2 (32 points, 1st in Atlantic, East and NHL)

Scoring:

Click Table for Enlarged Image

Goaltending:

Carey Price: 2-1-0, 6 goals against on 87 shots (.931)

Al Montoya: 0-1-0, 3 goals on 33 shots (.909)

For a second consecutive week, the Canadiens just seem to be treading water. This week, the Habs had a few bright performances, a few boring games and sole possession of first place in the NHL. Here’s your Fab Five:

5 The Second Line Struggled

While Alex Galchenyuk and Alexander Radulov have enjoyed a successful start to the season, other Habs haven’t been as lucky; chiefly Max Pacioretty, Tomas Plekanec and Brendan Gallagher. On Hockey Inside Out’s most recent You Tube installment, Chris Nilan said this line was assembled by Michel Therrien in order for each struggling forward to “figure it out,” which seems accurate. Misery loves company. Before Friday’s home matchup against Carolina, Pacioretty sat at a mere four goals on the year and Plekanec had registered only five points. Against the Canes, every member of this line found the scoresheet on a Pacioretty goal just 14 seconds into the third period. It would be nice to say that this goal busts Pacioretty’s slump, but only time will tell. Brendan Gallagher is still looking for his first goal since the Habs’ sixth game of the season and Plekanec has only found the back of the net once. The Habs de-facto second line needs to string together consecutive games with points in order for their slump to feel totally busted.

4 The General had a Great Week

Following Galchenyuk’s lead from last week, Andrei Markov led the team in scoring without scoring a goal. Markov has settled in nicely on the second paring with the underrated Jeff Petry. In fact, that pairing leads the Habs’ defensive pairing in possession with a CF% of 54.21. Markov had a great week on the powerplay as well, as he seems to be developing chemistry with right-handed powerplay quarterback, Shea Weber. Watching Markov and Weber distribute the puck from the blue line on the powerplay has been a treat in the early portions of the season, as the two have incredible vision. While it might not be a surprise to see Weber in second place among scoring by defensemen, it was a shock to me to see Andrei Markov tied with him at 17 points. While we shouldn’t expect Markov to keep up this pace for the entire season, he’s contributing to an offense that is otherwise stagnant at the moment. Hopefully when Markov slows down, someone will be able to pick up the slack.

3 How Fast is Paul Byron?

If you’re a regular reader of my weekly recap column, you know I want to include a weekly recap about how fast Paul Byron was at some point during the week. So this week I don’t have one. I tried.

Look for my Fab Five Friday tomorrow on @rabidhabs. I'm short a talking point so I'm hoping for a "How fast was Byron?" moment tonight #Habs

— Ian (@BoisvertIan) November 24, 2016

But since I have your attention, let’s talk about making Gary Bettman mad. After Habs legend John Scott was named captain of the Pacific Division in last year’s NHL All-Star Game, the NHL announced this week that there are new stipulations to the All-Star voting process. Basically, a player must be on an NHL roster by Nov. 1 and cannot be sent down to the AHL before Jan. 26 in order to be eligible.

You know what would be fun? If we knew exactly how fast Paul Byron was. Fastest skater competition? 3-on-3 mini tournament?

Whenever the polls open, know that I’m voting for Paul Byron, and I encourage my readers to do the same.

However, I will say this. If at any point, Paul Byron acknowledges a desire to avoid the all-star game, we should stop. It’s only fair. Okay, back to the countdown.

2 The Powerplay is Getting it Done

It still hasn’t completely clicked to me yet that the Habs have a competent powerplay again. In four games this week, Montreal tallied three goals with the extra man, good for a 20% conversion rate. On the season, the Habs are converting on 22.7% of their powerplays, which puts them in fifth place in the NHL. While the key player on the Habs new look powerplay is clearly Shea Weber, Alex Galchenyuk continues to develop into the number one center the Habs need and the powerplay is a perfect forum to see his growth. Muller’s constant tinkering with the powerplay has given Galchenyuk an odd spot to the left of the goaltender, giving the Habs a play-maker down low at the goal line as well as the tradition blue line quarterback. My one concern is the lack of depth at the center position on the powerplay, as Plekanec, Desharnais and Mitchell are not deserving of powerplay time. Marc Bergevin will need to figure out if there’s a fix in St. John’s waiting for a chance, or if the answer will come from another organization. I think it’s obviously the latter of the two choices, but what do I know?

1 Alexander Radulov Makes a Mockery of the Senators

Yeah, the Sens beat the Habs last week, but this goal almost made the loss sting less.

Alexander Radulov with a sick goal at the expense of Mike Hoffman pic.twitter.com/XKLLu5EAc7

— Pete Blackburn (@PeteBlackburn) November 23, 2016

I know there are a ton of comparisons to Alex Kovalev, and I loved Kovalev, but did Le Magicien ever go to the net with as much speed as Radulov did here? I don’t think so.

Next Week:

The Canadiens have a significant travel schedule ahead, so their playing schedule is a bit light for the time being. The Habs will visit “The Joe” for a date with the Detroit Red Wings Saturday night, before beginning a western road trip with a late-night matchup with the Anaheim Ducks.

Remember to follow Rabidhabs and me (@BoisvertIan) on Twitter, and stay tuned for more Habs news and opinions!