Montreal Canadiens point projections based on the first quarter

The Montreal Canadiens have gone through the first 20 games of the 2018/19 season, and some of their stars are scoring at incredible rates.

What’s a better number: 51 or 66? What about 3 or 1? It depends on what the context of the question is, so I’ll give it to you. The Montreal Canadiens had 51 goals for last season in their first 20 games and 66 now. Last year they were shut out three times during the same time frame and have only had the same thing happen to them once in the current year.

Pretty easy to answer those first two questions now, isn’t it? But times have changed. What’s interesting to note is not so much who is scoring, as well as the totals, but the pace at which they’re doing it.

The 2018/19 is a quarter old, and the Habs have a handful of players who could keep eyes permanently open if they continue on their individual runs.

Max Domi: 10 goals and 14 assists | Pace: 41 goals and 57 assists

Tomas Tatar: 9 goals and 8 assists | Pace: 37 goals and 33 assists

Jonathan Drouin: 7 goals and 10 assists | Pace: 29 goals and 41 assists

Jeff Petry: 1 goal and 14 assists | Pace: 4 goals and 57 assists

Brendan Gallagher: 9 goals and 5 assists | Pace: 37 goals and 21 assists

Jesperi Kotkaniemi: 3 goals and 7 assists | Pace: 12 goals and 29 assists

Artturi Lehkonen: 2 goals and 8 assists | Pace: 8 goals and 33 assists

Andrew Shaw: 6 goals and 3 assists | Pace: 25 goals and 12 assists

At first glance, Kotkaniemi’s pace looks to be the most realistic. Gallagher’s isn’t as farfetched either. The 26-year-old managed to put up 31 goals by the end of the 2017/18 season and it wouldn’t be surprising to see him do it again. And there’s also the point that Tatar is playing out of his mind.

Some of the paces are also a good indicator of two players at opposite ends of the spectrum in terms of things going there way.

At one end is Domi who broke history over the weekend after getting the primary assist on Shaw’s sixth goal of the season against the Vancouver Canucks to tie the game at two.

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Breaking records set back in the days where points were relatively easy to come by. That’s the Domi Marc Bergevin traded for over the summer.

On the other end is Lehkonen who is in a similar boat to last season. He’s generating a lot of shots and getting the chances but is struggling to put the puck in the net. Luckily Lehkonen got one past Mike Smith after having a pair of clear-cut opportunities earlier in the game. However, the 23-year-old isn’t and shouldn’t be satisfied with two goals on the season. Especially as this is a contract year for him.

But the beauty of starting slow is the lack of scrutiny over the point where the fire burns out. Domi and Tatar will be facing those concerns for the time being. As effective as they’ve been for the Montreal Canadiens to finish with those numbers would be something out of this world for the organization.

Bergevin would have the biggest chip on his shoulder considering the polarizing response to the initial trades that brought Domi and Tatar to Montreal in the first place.

The next quarter will have the magnifying glass still point towards the Habs. Based on their start (knocks on wood) it looks like the team will be in a playoff spot by American Thanksgiving and we all know the magic rule of thumb when it comes to that date.

That said, it’ll be interesting to see which of these paces play out and what are what they are.