Despite several ups and downs, with players coming and going on injured reserve and some players rising to the occasion while others lag behind, the Montreal Canadiens have still found themselves near the top of the Eastern Conference with an 11-3-3 record.
Captain Nick Suzuki, star winger Ivan Demidov and key players throughout the lineup like Kaiden Guhle, and now Mike Matheson and Jake Evans, have all dealt with injuries. Others have risen to the occasion and played their best hockey.
Most of the attention has gone to the best-known names like Cole Caufield, Lane Hutson, and Jacob Fowler, but the team's best line this season has largely gone unnoticed.
That line is the second unit of Zack Bolduc, Phillip Danault and Alexandre Texier, which has worked wonders for Montreal. According to MoneyPuck, the trio carries the highest expected goals percentage of any Canadiens forward line at 65.3 percent, which ranks in the top 15 in the NHL and tops even Montreal's top line of Suzuki, Caufield and Juraj Slafkovský.
That figure is also higher than some of the most impactful lines in the league, including Minnesota's top line of Matt Boldy, Joel Eriksson Ek and Kirill Kaprizov, and Edmonton's top line of Leon Draisaitl, Connor McDavid, and Vasily Podkolzin.
What separates the trio from the rest
The second line has also played the most minutes of any Habs forward line this season and has made a subtle impact, allowing just three goals as a trio. Each of the three is off to a great start. The line has scored nine goals combined, led by Bolduc, who has six himself.
Danault hasn't matched that level of offense but has brought stability, with a plus-four rating on the year, a plus-three rating at even strength and six points, making him a reliable two-way center who helps keep goals off the board.
The line adds physicality as well with Bolduc sitting with the third-most hits on the team with 26, and Texier is in the top six among Montreal forwards with 18 hits. Texier is also second on the team in takeaways with five, while giving the puck away far less than the players around him on the Canadiens' leaderboard.
While they have gone largely unnoticed, the Habs second line has been influential in more ways than one for their early season success this season and could continue to be a fixure in Montreal's lineup even when Demidov and Evans return.
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