We don't know how long Andrei Markov will be out of the lineup after twisting his right knee in Saturday night's 7-2 blowout of the Carolina Hurricanes, largely because the Montreal Canadiens won't tell us, or even give us a hint.

But if I were forced to bet on how long Markov will need to recover from what appeared to be another blow to the same knee that had its ACL torn last spring, I would say it will be counted in months, not weeks.

Let's hope I'm wrong.

But even if I'm not, this kind of news is not nearly as devastating as it was in past years, when the Canadiens could barely win a game without Markov in the lineup.

This is a different team which, unfortunately, has grown accustomed to playing without their best defenceman and – in my opinion – best player.

But you can only be a team's best player when you're healthy, and that has been the case less and less with Markov of late.

If Saturday night's knee injury was serious, it will be his third structural knee issue in a little over two years, dating back to the last regular season game of 2008. I'm not counting his freakish tendon injury in the first game of last season, because it wasn't structural. But when your knee gives out three times on plays that don't appear all that devastating, there may be an issue there.

Going into free agent negotiations, it may become the issue for Markov.

Plekanec taking ownership of the team

But I remember saying after Markov got hurt in the first game last year that the season was over, and it wasn't (though it was close).

I said the same thing when he ripped his knee in Game 1 against the Penguins last year, and I was wrong again.

I'm not making that same mistake three times.

The Canadiens are showing they are far more than a bunch of players feeding off Markov's talent. They have become a team in the truest sense of the word, one capable of withstanding such a loss.

And who is leading that team, night after night, and day after day in practice?

It is clearly Tomas Plekanec.

He may not wear a letter on his shirt, or be the most vocal guy. But he leads.

"First of all, it's a pleasure to coach Tomas Plekanec," Jacques Martin said after this statement win. "He's a great person, he's committed. He's always first at the rink, he prepares properly. He's giving us some strong hockey. A lot of times he'll play against the opposition's top line and he's not a selfish player. He plays on the penalty kill, 5-on-5, power play, so he's a very important part of our team."

More important, I would argue, than Markov. And it's been a long time since we could say that about any Canadiens skater.

Plekanec had a goal and three assists against Carolina, giving him 18 points on the season, tied for 12th in the league. His ice time was split as such: even strength – 10:37; shorthanded – 4:37; power play – 4:02. He won 13 of 25 faceoffs, an area of his game that still needs improvement, though he had a good night Saturday. He even blocked two shots. His linemates, Brian Gionta and Michael Cammalleri, had 12 shot attempts between them, while Plekanec scored on his first of two shot attempts in the game.

The three of them have 17 points combined over their last four games, and I would argue the driving force of that figure is Plekanec, and not only because he has seven of those points while his linemates have five apiece.

Chemistry building on other lines

Meanwhile, behind Plekanec there is something growing.

Martin praised his role players for giving his team some momentum with some strong shifts after Carolina erased a 2-0 deficit to make it 2-2 in the second.

"When it became 2-2 our role players had a couple of shifts that put us back in the tempo of the game," Martin said. "They may not have scored, but they gave us some momentum by getting pucks deep and outworking them, which some of our skill players weren't doing."

Immediately following Tom Kostopoulos' goal, Martin sent the Scott Gomez line over the boards, but that was not the shift Martin was referring to.

Lars Eller's line followed, and then it was the PhD line.

After that? Gionta scored, then Maxim Lapierre a minute after that and the Canadiens were off to the races.

It was about this time last season that the Canadiens forwards began developing a little chemistry, and we're starting to see it again while the defence is also showing improved cohesion since they were mixed up a few games ago.

Losing Markov will most definitely hurt that defence because Alexandre Picard cannot replace what Markov brings, even though Picard played extremely well when called upon.

But the team I just described is capable of rising above that.

And I didn't even mention Carey Price.