Holiday Wish List for the Montreal Canadiens in 2014-15

The Montreal Canadiens have three more games before their four-day holiday break. The Anaheim Ducks, Ottawa Senators and New York Islanders remain on the pre-Christmas schedule. 

Montreal enters its Dec. 18 tilt with Anaheim on a three-game winning streak. The victories have lifted its record to 20-10-2, one point behind the division-leading Tampa Bay Lightning.

It's been a good season so far for the Habs, but they'll still be hoping for a lot as Christmas turns into the new year. In fact, here's what the Canadiens' holiday wish list looks like for 2014-15. 

Stay Healthy

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Lars Eller

The Montreal Canadiens have been relatively lucky this season when it comes to injuries. 

According to the team's official injury report, only Michael Bournival has missed any significant time this season when he sat out 12 games with a shoulder injury. 

Lars Eller and Mike Weaver are currently injured, having missed four and three games, respectively, while Bryan Allen has the flu and has missed three contests. There's good news for all three, however, as they all were present at practice on Dec. 17, according to Canadiens.com. 

A clean slate of health is important to the success of any NHL team, and it has certainly helped Montreal win during the first 32 games this season. The Habs will hope to stay healthy throughout the holiday season and into the new year. 

Leave Alex Galchenyuk at Center

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Alex Galchenyuk

Lars Eller's recent injury left the Canadiens down a center. They also happened to be losing games and needed an offensive spark.

Their solution? Move 20-year-old Alex Galchenyuk to his natural position at center and put him with Max Pacioretty and Brendan Gallagher. 

The result? Nothing short of awesome. 

Galchenyuk has looked unstoppable at times while having the two best wingers on the team flanking him. He has taken advantage of the extra space on the ice that a center receives to show off his incredible puck-handling skills.

He and his linemates are also producing. Galchenyuk had a hat trick in the last game against the Carolina Hurricanes. Pacioretty had three assists, while Gallagher chipped in with one as well. The line also combined for three points against the Canucks on Dec. 9, which means they've totaled 10 points in the three games they've been together. 

And, most importantly, the team is winning—the Habs are 3-0 with Galchenyuk at center. 

Eller should return soon. He's practicing already, as mentioned in the previous slide. When he returns, the Habs will have five capable, and healthy, centers in Galchenyuk, Eller, Tomas Plekanec, David Desharnais and Manny Malhotra. Someone will have to play the wing. Let's just hope it's not the 20-year-old. 

Road Power-Play Goals

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P.K. Subban

The Canadiens' power play, as a whole, looks pretty bad. It's clicking at just 14 percent—24th in the league. That's not what you'd expect from a team that sits two points back of first in the Eastern Conference.

But when you break down the numbers, you notice that at the Bell Centre the Habs are actually scoring a bit with the man advantage. They're clicking at 20 percent. That's not great, but it's certainly not horrible.

It's on the road where the Canadiens are really struggling. Away from the Bell Centre, the Habs have scored just four power-play goals in 44 opportunities. That works out to a pathetic 9.1 percent and is fourth-worst in the league. Only Minnesota, Edmonton and Buffalo are worse on the road. 

For a winning team—one that plans to compete at the top of the Eastern Conference for the rest of the season—Montreal's power play just isn't good enough. It can survive with its percentages at home, but scoring at 9.1 percent on the road will not lead to wins. It's something the Habs need to improve moving forward. 

More Shots

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Max Pacioretty

On the last slide, we learned that the Canadiens are fourth-worst in road power-play scoring. Here's another stat where they're fourth-worst in the league: shots on net per game.

Montreal averages just 27.4 shots on a nightly basis. To put that number into perspective, Chicago, the league's top-shooting team, averages 35 shots per game. That's 7.6 more than Montreal! Amazingly, the Canadiens are just three points behind the Blackhawks in the overall standings. 

The Canadiens' 27.4 shots per game is so low that only Calgary, New Jersey and Buffalo hit the net less. Of those teams, only the Flames have a winning record. 

If we look to advanced stats, the Canadiens' shooting numbers do look a bit better. Their Fenwick percentage is 50.0, 19th overall, while their Corsi percentage ranks them 18th at 50.2. That's better but still not great.

Montreal doesn't shoot the puck enough for a good hockey team. IT needs to find ways to create more offense and get more pucks on net. The goal should be to average 30 shots per game moving forward. 

Score 1st More Often

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Brendan Gallagher celebrates a goal.

When the Montreal Canadiens score first, they win hockey games. So far in the 2014-15 season, it's been that simple. 

The Canadiens have scored the first goal of the game 12 times this season. Their record in those contests? Twelve wins, no losses. 

So the problem for Montreal isn't holding the lead. Instead, it's getting it to begin with. As mentioned, Montreal has scored the first goal 12 times. But the problem is that it has played 32 games—so in 62.5 percent of games, the opponent is scoring first. 

Montreal has had overall success partially because it has been able to come back and win games when it has allowed the first goal. In fact, the team's winning percentage after trailing first is .400, good for 11th overall in the NHL. But this is not something you want to sustain as a team. You don't want to come from behind on a nightly basis. 

Instead, Montreal needs to focus on good starts. The Habs have scored the first goal in each of their last three games, so perhaps they're finally figuring out how to play better from the moment the puck drops. It's something they'll look to continue as they close out December and head into 2015. 

All stats from NHL.com. Advanced stats from Stats.HockeyAnalysis.com.