In-house improvements pay off for Montreal Canadiens

Last year it was the Ottawa Senators coming back from the dead and making a surprise trip to the playoffs. This year, it’s the Montreal Canadiens who are making a surprise comeback, sitting atop the Eastern Conference in a full worst-to-first transformation.

After finishing with the third-worst record in the league last season, not many predicted much from the Habs. The Hockey News predicted an improvement, but only to 13th in the East.

The Habs didn’t do much to make The Hockey News second guess its prediction either. Montreal’s big offseason signings were Brandon Prust, Francis Bouillon and Colby Armstrong. Three players who combined for 10 goals in 2011-12.

A confluence of factors can throw off even the most extensively researched predictions, however. The most difficult factor to account for is goaltending; goalies can get hot for entire seasons and drag unworthy teams into the playoffs and beyond. The Hockey News recognized the Habs had a goalie capable of just that, conceding that a Vezina-worthy season from Carey Price would help Montreal exceed expectations, but goaltending hasn’t lifted the team to prominence. Price is sporting a below average .908 save percentage, lower than last year’s .916 mark.

Of course, Scott Gomez’s buyout was addition by subtraction, but that isn’t the reason for a major jump up the standings either. The main reason for Montreal’s rise from the dead was entirely written off by The Hockey News, and based on the last three seasons it was warranted.

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You can be forgiven for writing him off too. Andrei Markov only played 65 games over the past three seasons, but is finally healthy and making good on the three-year deal the Habs gave him back in 2011.

Much like the Senators last year, the Canadiens can point to a clean bill of health for one of their most important players as reason No. 1 for the dramatic turnaround. It was Jason Spezza last year who shook off two years of injury-plagued rust to reclaim his mantle as an elite, No. 1 center; this year it has been Markov for the Habs, resuming his play as a smooth-skating, puck-moving No. 1  defenceman.

As the Senators discovered before them, it’s hard to win without your best player in the lineup. Now, with their No. 1 defenceman back in the lineup, the Habs are winning. Markov’s return has had a cascading effect down the rest of the roster, making the team exponentially better.

Markov’s primary partner, Alexei Yemelin, is now playing in a top-line role and excelling after treading water as a rookie last season. Like Mike Komisarek before him, Yemelin is able to play a safe, steady game alongside Markov, and has elevated his game, although an All-Star appearance might not be in his future.

The return of Markov has done wonders for P.K. Subban as well, freeing the youngster from the heavy defensive minutes he was forced into last season. Subban has responded with his best offensive season to date, scoring at a pace that would net him over 60 points in an 82-game season.

In general, Markov’s return has allowed Michel Therrian to spread the minutes out among his defencemen. Only Markov is playing more than 21 minutes a night (he’s averaging 24:24); Subban, Emelin, Raphael Diaz and Josh Gorges are all averaging between 20-21 minutes, while Francis Bouillon is around 18. Last year, it was Subban and Gorges playing a ton and Jacques Martin trying to squeeze small, serviceable minutes out of anyone else.

With largely the same goaltending performance behind them, the Canadiens’ defence has found a way to cut down an already decent goals against total of 2.76 a game in 2011-12 to 2.48 in 2012-13, good enough for ninth best in the league.

The Habs have improved offensively too.

Markov and his 14 points has certainly helped the offense, which sits sixth best in the league, but the turnaround isn’t solely due to the talented rearguard’s presence. Instead, the Canadiens can thank two young rookies for contributions beyond their years.

Alex Galchenyuk, the third overall pick in the 2012 Entry Draft, and Brendan Gallagher, a fifth-round pick in 2010, both rank in the top 10 in rookie scoring, and have added scoring depth to a team that had trouble scoring last season.

Last year the Habs were entirely reliant on the trio of Max Pacioretty, David Desharnais and Erik Cole to light the lamp. Now, with the two rookies producing, Tomas Plekanec providing his reliable two-way minutes, Lars Eller taking a step forward and Pacioretty proving last year was no fluke, the Habs are a legitimate threat.

But really, should everyone have been so surprised? The Habs finished 19th in goals for, 11th in goals against last year, combined with an elite penalty kill (and a putrid power play). They weren’t necessarily a good team, but those four simple stats indicate their true talent level was not that of a bottom-feeding lottery team.

But by failing to make a major splash in the offseason the perception was the last place Canadiens were coming back to take another crack at the lottery. With just a few quiet additions, however, all from in house, the Canadiens have started to restore the glory in la belle province.

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