DETROIT — The Montreal Canadiens are back to even. And the fact they got there with two key skaters sidelined speaks volumes about the players, from top to bottom, who were in the lineup.

The Canadiens won a season-high fourth consecutive game on Thursday night, downing the Detroit Red Wings 6-3 at Little Caesars Arena. With a pair of No. 1’s — centre Jonathan Drouin and defenceman Shea Weber — absent due to injury, the Canadiens got production from go-to guys and AHL callups alike. And, as has been the case in their previous three triumphs, they also received more of the spectacular goaltending they expect from Carey Price. Since returning from a suspected knee injury on Saturday night, Price has .962 save percentage in four outings.

The victory moves Montreal’s record to 12-12-3 on the season, which is saying something considering the club was 1-6-1 after eight contests this year. Beyond getting them back to .500, the Canadiens’ latest two points also slides them into the post-season spot that comes with being placed third in the Atlantic Division. (Though it should be noted they’ve played four more games than the fourth-place Boston Bruins).

“We know it’s going to take more than being even if you want to be in the playoffs,” said Claude Julien, who earned his 100th career victory as Montreal’s coach. “It’s a fresh start in a certain way [and] hopefully we can continue to move forward and get on the positive side of the wins and losses.”

There were definitely all kinds of things to like against Detroit. Give Montreal a pass on its sluggish first period — the team was playing 24 hours after defeating the Ottawa Senators — and it was basically a letter-perfect performance.

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Brendan Gallagher padded his team goal-scoring lead with a pair of tip-ins. Daniel Carr, after getting summoned from the AHL’s Laval Rocket for his first NHL tilt this season, assisted on the game-opening tally. Charles Hudon, who’s been snake-bitten much of the year, hit pay dirt for this third goal of the season. Top dogs Alex Galchenyuk and Max Pacioretty also sniped. Andrew Shaw, after setting up the game-winner on Wednesday, got the crucial go-ahead marker when he roofed a second-period breakaway shot over Jimmy Howard’s glove.

And Jacob de la Rose, an unlikely pinch-hitter for Drouin as the No. 1 pivot, picked up his first NHL point since Feb. 15, 2016.

How’s that for varied contributions on an evening when Weber missed his sixth straight game with a lower-body injury and Drouin didn’t make the trip after apparently re-aggravating a lower-body injury versus the Sens?

“I like the character we showed,” said Julien. “It would have been easy after the first to say, ‘We haven’t got it tonight.’ But we weren’t going to be denied. Our guys went out, worked hard and got rewarded with a good win.”

Given he’s gone nearly two years without showing up on an NHL scoresheet, de la Rose was certainly the poster boy for production from unlikely sources. He’s nobody’s idea of a top pivot. For a night, though, he faked it just fine.

“When guys like [Drouin] go down, someone has to step in and I thought he played a solid two-way game,” Galchenyuk said of his centre.

One guy who’s had it going through thick and thin this season is Gallagher. He opened the scoring just 4:10 into the action on Thursday by tipping a waist-high shot by Pacioretty, then re-directed a Jeff Petry blast in the third to give Montreal a comfortable three-goal cushion. The nasty hummingbird of a right winger — after consecutive years in which he missed significant time thanks to hands broken by slap shots — is on pace for a career-best 36 goals.

“He’s playing great for us,” said Galchenyuk. “Since the start of the year, he’s been our best forward in my mind.”

As for Price, the fact he’s back to his old self is an enormous boon for Montreal. Julien, though, believes some good signs were there before the all-world goalie’s return.

“I thought the confidence started coming around before Carey came back,” he said. “We played a lot better, but when Carey comes in, it’s another added element. The confidence level certainty takes another jolt in the right direction.”

The Canadiens must surely like the path they’ve been on recently. Couple their success with the spiraling of some Atlantic rivals — Detroit has now dropped six straight, while Ottawa is winless in seven — and the path to a playoff spot that seemed extremely unlikely even a week ago has never been clearer.

“It can’t stop [here],” said Gallagher. “We play [Detroit] the next game [on Saturday in Montreal] and it’s just as important as it was tonight. The position we’re in right now, we can’t afford to get complacent. We understand that.”

That’s never been easier to believe.