MONTREAL - Okay, everyone who predicted Carey Price would stand on his head, Jeff Halpern would be a close second to Tomas Plekanec in team scoring and Alexandre Picard would be leading all Montreal defencemen in plus-minus a month into the season, take a step forward. Kreskin and Nostradamus, you're good; the rest of you - not so fast.
When he was coach, Guy Carbonneau used to say for the Canadiens to be successful, they needed their best players to be their best players. Price and Tomas Plekanec aside, that hasn't been the case so far this season, but they've been relatively successful anyway, thanks in part to a strong collective work ethic and timely scoring from secondary sources like chronic underachievers Andrei Kostitsyn and Benoit Pouliot.
With Mike Cammalleri, Scott Gomez and Brian Gionta performing below their pay scale, Andrei Markov still rusty from knee surgery and the power play firing blanks, production from new or unexpected sources is more than a windfall - it's been crucial to the Canadiens early season success in the standings. But the party is coming to an end, if it's not over already - three losses and a total of six goals in the last four games.
It was a pleasantly productive October in the win/loss column, but the Canadiens urgently need their best players to be their best players, or this whole thing could go south in a big hurry. At this time of the year, the trip from the top of the standings to the bottom is a short one. Just ask the Leafs.
