The Montreal Canadiens went West looking for ten points. They returned with bumps, bruises, and… less than ten points. This is Fab Five Friday.

Game Results:

Montreal 1 @ San Jose 2

Montreal 5 @ Los Angeles 4 (SO)

Montreal 2 @ St. Louis 3 (OT)

New Jersey 2 @ Montreal 5

Week 8 Record: 2-1-1 (5 points)

Season Record: 18-6-3 (39 points, 1st in the Atlantic, 1st in the East, 1st in the NHL)

Weekly Scoring:

Click for enlarged image

Goaltending:

Carey Price: 2-1-0, 8 goals against on 82 shots (.902)

Al Montoya: 0-0-1, 2 goals against on 31 shots (.935)

The Fab Five:

5 – Injuries

When the Canadiens have been successful in year’s past, they have been among the healthiest teams in the league. If the Habs are going to be successful this season, they will need to overcome several unfortunate injures. Alex Galchenyuk was the first to add his name to the injured list, and David Desharnais followed with a similar knee injury. Both players will be out approximately 6-8 weeks, and they leave a large gap at center on the Habs’ depth chart. On the blue line, Greg Pateryn will be missing from action for approximately 8 weeks with a fractured ankle he sustained in the Habs’ overtime loss to the St. Louis Blues. The knee-jerk reaction is to say that Marc Bergevin needs to make a move, but it would be wise to see how players in the system can be utilized to make it work for the time being.

4 – Not-so-special teams

The Habs’ road woes were certainly made worse by their sub-par penalty killing. From the outside looking in, it is assumed that the Canadiens are a strong team defensively, but lately that assumption has been far from the truth. Over the Canadiens’ last four games, their penalty killers have allowed four goals. In fourteen tries, the Canadiens penalty kill only managed ten successful outings, for an abysmal 71.4%. To top that off, the powerplay has leveled out to a degree. The Canadiens went 3/16 over the past seven days, good for 19%. I like to think of special team success as a combination of both the powerplay and the penalty killers doing their jobs well, so let’s consider them together. The special teams index is an interesting way of doing that. The idea behind this metric is that if you add your penalty kill and your powerplay percentages together, the sum should be around 100. If your powerplay is weak, your penalty kill might overcompensate to help you win the special teams battle. This week, a very small sample size, has the Habs at a combined 90.4%. To overcompensate for the putrid penalty killers, the powerplay would need to convert at about 30%, which is far too much to ask over any stretch of time.

3 – How fast was Paul Byron?

I’ll answer this one with an incorrect unit. Four seconds. That was all it took for Lord Byron to create a breakout with Tomas Plekanec, before our turtlenecked hero deposited this slick backhand goal.

Byron sets up Plekanec with a great pass. Plekanec makes no mistake with a great finish. Great play.

Just…great.
2-0 #Habs pic.twitter.com/8G9UkbA1D0

— Marc Dumont (@MarcPDumont) December 7, 2016

Have to give Byron credit on this one. Usually when he’s that far into the offensive zone, the nearest Canadien is at least fifty feet away.

Oh, and Byron 2017.

2 – Tickling the Twine: Radulov’s Shootout Beauty

Confession time: I hate the shootout. I think it’s a gimmick that should be reserved for the All-Star Game. However, if I have to watch the shootout, I prefer to see All-Star caliber talent, and Alexander Radulov is oozing all-star skill. I mean, this was just mean.

Alexander Radulov in the shootout…backhand shelf pic.twitter.com/ElrtCY5nVA

— Brady Trettenero (@BradyTrett) December 4, 2016

I remember one guy that loved going backhand shelf.

1 – By God, that’s Carey Price’s music!

This one was a long time coming. In a game that saw two goals overturned by the goalie interference portion of the coach’s challenge, Carey Price decided that he had seen enough.

when you just wanna punch someone in the face repeatedly pic.twitter.com/dHEXRgrB3x

— Stephanie (@myregularface) December 9, 2016

And I know there’s a ton of backlash outside of the Canadiens fanbase around this one, but let me explain something. Everyone in the league knows that Price has had lower-body issues in his career. Season ending lower-body injuries. I’m not saying players should be softer around the net Price occupies; how can I when the team I write about employs Brendan Gallagher? But let’s get something straight here: Kyle Palmieri knew what he was doing.

And so did Carey Price. Yeah, the rules say he should have gotten ejected for using his blocker to punch Palmieri in the head. I don’t care. Price has sent a message to the Palmieris of the world; the Kreiders of the world. I think the message is pretty clear.

If you run me, you better take me out.

The Week Ahead:

The Canadiens began a four game home stand against the Devils that will continue into next week. The next Friday Fab Five will cover the Habs’ Saturday night tilt against the Colorado Avalanche as well as the latest installment in the Canadiens-Bruins rivalry taking place on Monday night.

As always, follow Rabidhabs on Twitter and like us on Facebook for more news, opinion and analysis.

And follow me on Twitter @BoisvertIan