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With 26 goals and 14 assists in 61 games — including his first career hat-trick in Thursday’s 5-1 win over Philadelphia — Brendan Gallagher is fifth on the Canadiens’ scoring list. But a cursory glance at his point total is not enough to properly judge his importance to the team. He does so much more than just rack up points.

The first thing we need to take a look at is the effect of his presence on a line. As soon as Gallagher is added to a line, there’s almost always an immediate uptick in puck possession.

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For example, Jonathan Drouin has always struggled to control the play during his shifts. It’s clearly not his play in the offensive zone that causes his numbers to dip, but rather his lack of defensive awareness. But as soon as Drouin was placed on a line with Gallagher and Phillip Danault, the Canadiens started to control significantly more shots during his shifts.

You can repeat the exercise for almost any of Gallagher’s linemates over the years, and the results will be similar.