The Montreal Canadiens' recent success has been due in large part to players like Cole Caufield, Nick Suzuki, and Jakub Dobes. These three have been playing as good as anyone in the league and one of the reasons why the Canadiens have won eight of their last nine, and are right in the middle of this Atlantic Division race.
However, they haven't done it alone, and recently, the Canadiens have had several players elevate their play and make key contributions as of late. These are three players in particular who have been able to find ways to help them win late in the season.
Zachary Bolduc
This season as a whole hasn't gone the way Zachary Bolduc would have liked in his first season with the Montreal Canadiens. However, recently he has turned a corner and been very productive outside of goals and assists, which he has one of each over the past 10 games.
Bolduc has been able to bring physicality to the lineup with 20 hits, which is third on the team, and second on the team in penalties drawn with six, according to Natural Stat Trick. That is something that can't be overlooked, as it helps create an advantage for Montreal and gives them power-play opportunities.
While he does have only one goal and one assist in 5v5 situations, he has been generating plenty of scoring chances and is actually tied for second with 18 iSCF over the past 10 games. It is great to see Bolduc starting to heat up heading into the playoffs, where he could be an x-factor for Montreal.
Kaiden Guhle
The Canadiens shuffled their defensive pairs, and there have been notable improvements in the defensive zone. One of those pairs was Kaiden Guhle and Alexandre Carrier, but with him being out for a few weeks, the Canadiens turned to Arber Xhekaj to play next to Guhle.
Regardless of who has been next to him, he has been playing great hockey and is second on the team in hits (22) and third in blocked shots (17) over the last 10 games. He has also only been on the ice for two goals scored against, while the Canadiens have scored seven times with Guhle out there.
Alex Newhook
It isn't much of a surprise that Cole Caufield leads the Canadiens in 5v5 goals over the past 10 games with seven. However, it might surprise some that Alex Newhook is actually second on the Canadiens in those situations with three over that stretch and now has 12 on the season.
Newhook has primarily been playing with Ivan Demidov and Oliver Kapanen, and similar to Bolduc, has been generating plenty of scoring chances with 18 iSCF, which ranks second on the team in 5v5 situations. He has also been doing a good job in the faceoff circle with a faceoff percentage of 57.14%, which is the best percentage of the players with 10 or more faceoffs.
The Montreal Canadiens are playing some of the best hockey in the entire NHL, and while their stars are a big reason, what these three players have brought can't be overlooked.