The Montreal Canadiens are sixth in Sportsnet's weekly power rankings after going 6-3-1 in their last 10 games and finding themselves in the third place of the Atlantic Division.
It’s been an interesting first half of the season for the Montreal Canadiens. They thrilled their fans with overtime wins early in the season, but it has since become clear that failing to close out opponents in regulation could hurt them in the long run. They went from being very confident in their goaltenders at the start of the campaign to needing to call up their goalie of the future for an electroshock. They battled through several injuries to key players, yet they’ve remained competitive and brought in replacements who have performed surprisingly well.
For all these reasons, the Habs are currently sixth in Sportsnet’s power rankings behind the Colorado Avalanche, the Tampa Bay Lightning, the Carolina Hurricanes, the Minnesota Wild and the Detroit Red Wings. The rankings are not all that different from the current league standings, where the Canadiens are currently in seventh place. The one exception is the Dallas Stars, who are currently second in the standings but find themselves in seventh place in the power rankings, which is hardly surprising given that they are just 2-5-3 in their last 10 games.
In this latest edition of the power rankings, Sportsnet focuses on veterans on each team and for the Canadiens, they’ve concentrated on recently reacquired Phillip Danault. They praise his impact through 11 games with a 57.4% success rate in the faceoff department and four assists in that span. That’s quite a turnaround, given that he only had five assists in 30 games with the Los Angeles Kings. The center has been very vocal about how he feels trusted in his new environment, and that’s essential to his success. Clearly, Martin St-Louis has done well building a relationship with his new player.
It’s interesting to note that the Canadiens’ opponents from Thursday night, the Buffalo Sabres, are in eighth place in the power rankings, thanks to their 8-2-0 record in their last 10 games, which has seen them rise in the standings. They’re currently 10th in the league, but judging by the way they performed against the Habs on Thursday, they’re not done climbing up the standings, and more than likely the power rankings as well.
Follow Karine on X @KarineHains Bluesky @karinehains.bsky.social and Threads @karinehains.
Bookmark The Hockey News Canadiens' page for all the news and happenings around the Canadiens.
Join the discussion by signing up to the Canadiens' roundtable on The Hockey News.
Subscribe to The Hockey News at THN.com/free. Get the latest news and trending stories by subscribing to our newsletter here.