The Montreal Canadiens enter the Olympic break in a playoff spot.

This might seem like an uninteresting fact to point out, but just how normal that has quickly become is the most interesting part of the Canadiens’ season heading into the break.

Since the start of the season, the Canadiens have only spent 19 days out of a playoff spot, and only twice – from Nov. 20-28 and from Dec. 8-14 – have they spent more than one day out of the playoffs.

They have held a spot in the playoffs every day since Dec. 18, and a 5-1 win on the road against the Winnipeg Jets on Wednesday meant the Canadiens entered the break on a 4-0-1 run. Since the last day the Canadiens were outside the playoffs, they have a 15-5-4 record in 24 games, a points percentage of .708, third best in the NHL over that span.

They are second to the Buffalo Sabres in goals scored over that span with 92, but what is more indicative of how they’ve performed since that last day out of the playoff picture is the Canadiens have the ninth-best save percentage at .896.

That number got a bit of a boost from Sam Montembeault on Wednesday with 36 saves on 37 shots.

Starting Montembeault in this game appeared to be a calculated risk by Martin St. Louis. If he had a bad performance, it would linger for three weeks. But if he had a performance like the one he had Wednesday, when he single-handedly kept the Canadiens in the game as they largely slept through the first period, it would give him something to build on and allow both him and Jakub Dobeš to feel good about themselves entering the break.

It paid off.

“I’m really happy for Monty,” St. Louis told reporters in Winnipeg. “He played an excellent game.”

The Canadiens are not scheduled to practice until Feb. 17. They don’t play again until Feb. 26. That’s a long time to sit on a stinker, and neither Montembeault nor Dobeš have to do that.

Goaltending has been the Canadiens’ biggest weakness for most of the season. If it has indeed turned around, that is the biggest development for this team heading into the break.

But it’s not the only one.

Is Kirby Dach back?

It sure looks like it. Dach was excellent against the Jets, and has been very effective since being inserted on the top line with Nick Suzuki and Cole Caufield in Buffalo on Saturday in place of the injured Alexandre Texier.

Really, there is no reason to put Texier back there when he gets back from representing France at the Olympics.

Dach is an ideal complement to Suzuki and Caufield. His reach and good stick allows Dach to extend offensive zone possessions, his puck skill matches well with his linemates and he’s a big body presence on a line that has lacked that element since Juraj Slafkovský was removed.

One thing Dach mentioned after his first game on that line in Buffalo was how he was still waiting for the explosion in his skating to come back after an eight-week absence with a broken foot.

“My legs and lungs feel fine,” he said Saturday. “I don’t feel like I’m a step behind. I think there’s times when maybe I don’t really have the power, the first three strides that I’d like to have, or the first three steps. That’s kind of the last thing to check the box and I know that’s coming. It feels better each and every game.”

Since he said that, the explosion seems to be better. The chemistry with Suzuki and Caufield seems to be better. Dach seems to be better.

He is getting better every game. It’s a massive positive for the Canadiens if he’s able to keep the Suzuki-Caufield combo cooking at five-on-five while Slafkovský continues to drive the second line with Oliver Kapanen and Ivan Demidov.

Is Lane Hutson one of the NHL’s best defencemen?

He has to be close.

Hutson scored his 10th goal of the season Wednesday and enters the break with 58 points in 57 games. His goal was a ridiculous display of dexterity, agility and poise, yet another example of the extent to which he has hit another level.

Using that same date of Dec. 17 as the last day the Canadiens spent outside a playoff spot, Hutson is their leading scorer with 30 points in 24 games, tied for 10th in the league.

The veteran line is becoming more of a factor

Saturday night in Buffalo, St. Louis credited the line of Josh Anderson, Brendan Gallagher and Phillip Danault with turning the tide after a slow start. They did the same thing in Minnesota on Monday. And they did the same thing against the Jets.

Before Anderson and Gallagher helped provide two goals on one shift in Winnipeg, that line at least temporarily broke the Jets’ incredible rhythm to start the game, snapping an 8-0 edge in shots on goal when Anderson and Danault got consecutive chances.

St. Louis has long wanted a momentum line, one that can halt the opponent’s momentum and shift it back to the Canadiens. Over the last few games before the break, Anderson, Danault and Gallagher have provided that.

Top penalty killing unit needs some rethinking

When the Canadiens acquired Danault from the Los Angeles Kings on Dec. 19 – a timeline that essentially matches the team’s run of consecutive days in a playoff spot — the goal was for him and Jake Evans to form a one-two bottom-six punch that would mimic what the Canadiens had last season with Evans and Christian Dvorak.

Except Evans was injured the next day and didn’t get a chance to form that tandem with Danault until his return on Jan. 17.

Since that return, the bottom-six combo has more or less worked out at five-on-five. But on the penalty kill? Not so much.

The thing about Dvorak and Evans a year ago is they played on different penalty-killing units. But when Evans returned, he was paired with Danault on the penalty kill, and it has not worked.

Since his return from injury on Jan. 17, only one NHL forward — Boston’s Mark Kastelic — has been on the ice for more power play goals against than Evans, who has been on for seven goals against in nine games on the penalty kill. Danault has been on the ice for five power play goals against since Evans’ return, tied for fourth most in the NHL over that span.

Evans quite clearly lost his man on the Jets’ only goal of the game Wednesday, scored by Kyle Connor — one of the most lethal shooters in the league left all alone.

The break might be a good opportunity for the Canadiens to juggle the assignments on the penalty-kill, because while Evans and Danault are very good penalty-killers, they might not be all that great together.

But as Hutson mentioned after the game in Winnipeg, this is the beauty of where the Canadiens find themselves at the break. There is still room for improvement, and they are firmly in a playoff spot.

“The good news is we’ve got a lot to work on, and we’re still finding ways to win,” Hutson said. “It’s encouraging for sure.”