With less than 6 minutes to go and the Montreal Canadiens down by one, Dale Weise came up clutch to draw the Habs even Sunday night. Weise doubled down on the heroics in overtime, blasting the winner past Craig Anderson to put the Habs up 3-0 in the first round series.

As much as the Canadiens know they need big contributions from their stars, guys like Carey Price, PK Subban, Max Pacioretty and Tomas Plekanec, their ability to roll four lines is what could end up making them dangerous down the stretch. It’s a formula that’s worked for the Canadiens through much of the season, and one that’s kicked in to high gear now that the playoffs have started.

The Canadiens haven’t been a great first period team at all this year. They were 29th in goals scored in the first period, lighting the lamp just 44 times in the opening frame. Luckily, and you can thank Carey Price for this, the Habs only conceded 55 goals in the opening 20 minutes, keeping them in the top-10 in that stat.

But as the games rolled along, so did the Canadiens. They scored 77 second period goals and 87 third period markers this year, fifth most in the league. It’s a testament to the team’s ability to wear down their opponents by icing four capable lines with confidence.

The proof is in the numbers. Through 58 games Manny Malhotra averaged over 10 minutes of ice time a game, Brandon Prust was closer to 13. Meanwhile top line center David Desharnais was kept to an average of 17:14 each game. Tomas Plekanec, who sees the ice for power plays and penalty kills averaged 19:09. Compare that to other leading centers in the league, John Tavares 20:40 average TOI, Ryan Nugent-Hopkins 20:38, or Claude Giroux at 20:33, and you start to get an idea of why the Habs are able to pick up their play as the game wears on.

The Canadiens only led 21 times this season after 20 minutes, but went into the first break trailing 31 times. It’s not an enviable position to be in, and not something you’d expect from the team that finished second overall in the standings. But the Habs still managed to win 11 games they trailed at the first intermission, and now in the Playoffs they’re three for three.

Ask anyone that plays the game and they’ll tell you they’d rather be playing with a lead than playing from behind, but somehow the Habs have managed to keep their cool even after conceding the first goal. Having four lines they can rely on is a big factor.

In this series, the contributions from the fourth line have been plain to see. Brian Flynn has a goal and two assists, Torrey Mitchell added a pair of assists on Sunday to match Flynn’s totals, Brandon Prust has a pair of helpers as well. If offensive contributions from the bottom six are a bonus, the Canadiens have hit the jackpot so far this postseason.

But even when they’re not contributing on the score sheet, having a fourth line that can play meaningful minutes makes the Habs a very dangerous team. It means easier minutes for the top lines, and it means when games are close with time running out, the Canadiens can still find the extra gear they need to get the results they’re looking for.