BROSSARD, Que.— If you’d have told the Montreal Canadiens in September that they’d go 11-7-3 and post the 10th-best points percentage (.595) in the NHL through the first 21 games of this season, they’d have taken it.

It’s a marked improvement over what the Canadiens did through their first 21 games last season, even if where they find themselves on Nov. 24 in the same place they were towards the end of last November—outside of a playoff spot.

Still, back then, the Canadiens were 7-11-3, six points out of an Eastern Conference wild card position and 11 points back of the Atlantic Division-leading Toronto Maple Leafs, and right now, despite a recent skid that saw them lose seven of eight games and five in a row, they’re just two points out of second in the conference and first in their div

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