It was subtle, and was the exact type of play that usually gets Alexei Emelin into a game.

Twenty seconds into his first shift of the night, New York Islanders centre John Tavares skated into Emelin’s corner in full control of the puck and lost it as soon as the hulking Russian bumped him heavily into the boards.

The hit was his 28th of the season. He came into Montreal’s 3-2 win over the Islanders Wednesday leading all NHL defencemen in the category. And he added three more to his total before the night was over.

Emelin’s made a living throwing around that 215-pound frame. It was a big factor in general manager Marc Bergevin’s decision to compensate him with a four-year, $16.4-million contract in 2014.

New partner Shea Weber sees the value.

“Guys, I think, know when he’s on the ice,” said Weber before the Canadiens left for Brooklyn Tuesday. “He’s able to step up and make big hits.”

Physicality is just one of the reasons Emelin was promoted to Montreal’s first defence pairing from its third before Monday’s 3-1 win over the Philadelphia Flyers.

“He keeps his game really simple,” said coach Michel Therrien after the game. “I thought Emy, since the beginning of the year, he’s been really solid, so that’s why we promoted him to play with Weber.”

Since taking over as coach of the Canadiens in 2012, it’s been oft-repeated by Therrien that Emelin is “a demanding guy to play against.”

It’s a characterization that was far from accurate over long stretches of the last few seasons.

But through seven games this season, with the Canadiens off to a sterling 6-0-1 start, Emelin’s lived up to the billing in more ways than one.

After two consecutive years of playing well below the possession equator, he came into Wednesday’s tilt with New York rocking a 52 per cent Corsi For rating, and his efficiency with the puck has been a massive departure from the bang-it-off-the-glass staple Canadiens fans have become accustomed to seeing from him.

SportLogiq’s Andrew Berkshire, also a frequent contributor to Sportsnet, emailed over Emelin’s pass completion stats through Montreal’s first six games. The rugged blue-liner had successfully completed 73.5 per cent of his passes in the defensive and neutral zones and converted on 81 per cent of them in the offensive zone.

In context, those numbers on the whole are a fraction of a percentage point higher than the team’s average completion rate but far better in relation to what he’s managed over the last couple of seasons.

And Emelin’s early efforts are being rewarded.

On Wednesday, his point shot in the early portion of the second period came in hard and fast on Islanders goaltender Thomas Greiss, who booted the rebound out for Brendan Gallagher to direct back on net before Paul Byron opened the scoring.

It was Emelin’s third point of the season after his first goal in over a calendar year was scored in a 5-2 win over the Arizona Coyotes on Oct. 20.

He is just one of several depth players on the Canadiens contributing in a big way to the team’s white-hot start.

Byron, who started on the team’s fourth line and has played at least one shift on two other units through the first seven games, notched his fifth point in Wednesday’s game. Fourth-liner Phillip Danault scored Montreal’s second goal for his fourth point. Danault’s centreman, Torrey Mitchell, has three goals so far. And backup goalie Al Montoya made 26 saves to earn his third win of the season.

Those contributions are making it that much harder for Montreal’s opposition to shut down the team’s top weapons. As a result, every one of Montreal’s top-six forwards and top-four defencemen have recorded at least three points.

In two games next to Emelin, Weber has added four of his team-leading nine points and gone plus-4 to bring his league-leading total to plus-12.

On Tuesday, Emelin told TVA’s Renaud Lavoie that his early-season confidence was a function of being forced to play hockey at its highest level as a member of Team Russia in September’s World Cup of Hockey.

Whether or not he can sustain this is anybody’s guess.

But for a guy who has been criticized by Montreal fans and media members ad nauseam over the last three years, he deserves the praise he’s currently receiving.