Three Montreal Canadiens players quietly excelling
Marco Scandella was acquired from the Buffalo Sabres on the 2nd day of the new decade for a 4th round selection. This trade was paired with a deal seeing Mike Reilly head down the Trans Canada highway to Ottawa for a 5th and an AHL body.
The Montreal native stepped right into a top-4 role with the Habs and has been a stabilizing presence. While his stats are as unimpressive as an NHL referee turning a blind eye to a blatant high-sticking call (0 pts, 8 PIMs, minus-2, 48.9 CF%, 46.7 FF% in 9 games), the eye test tells a very different story.
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Firstly, Scandella has not had lady luck on his side, hitting the post with a surprisingly powerful slapshot on two occasions since his arrival in La Belle Province. More importantly, however, he has helped organize this team defensively. He is replacing potentially the most defensively challenged Canadiens defenseman of the past decade, which could make just about any NHL-calibre defenseman look good. With Scandella, Claude Julien finally has a #4/5 defenseman he can trust with defensive zone starts and against bigger opponents (he’s 6’3″).
Scandella’s most important contribution to the team is on the penalty kill, however. Since his arrival, the Canadiens have taken 26 penalties; the opposing team has managed to score on just two of those occasions, meaning the penalty kill has operated at 92.3% efficiency since Scandella’s insertion to the lineup.
Given the fact that our penalty kill had been successful, a measly 76% of the time before Marco Scandella’s arrival, this is quite the accomplishment. Our penalty kill now ranks 21st in the league at 78.9%, nearly three full percentage points higher than it was on January 2nd. While the acquisition of Ilya Kovalchuk rightfully holds the spotlight, Scandella has been very effective during his short time in a Habs sweater.