BROSSARD, Quebec – The Montreal Canadiens have already overcome what many considered would be their worst-case scenario this season.

The loss of goaltender Carey Price for three weeks would have been disastrous for the Canadiens a season ago, but they came out of it with a 5-2-2 record and a newfound confidence in how they play as a team in front of Price.

Now that Price is back the Canadiens face a new, entirely different challenge with top-line right wing Brendan Gallagher out a minimum of six weeks following surgery to repair two fractured fingers on his left hand.

PHILADELPHIA -- Rod Brind'Amour felt he never had a proper chance to say goodbye when the Philadelphia Flyers traded him to the Carolina Hurricanes.

Prior to the game between Flyers and Hurricanes on Monday at Wells Fargo Center, Brind'Amour will have the opportunity to thank the people that were most important to him during his nine seasons with the Flyers when he is inducted into their Hall of Fame.

"I left Philadelphia and it kind of felt kind of weird," Brind'Amour said. "One day I was there and then I was gone and that was it, and I never got the chance to thank the people that meant so much to me there. So this is kind of a long time coming for that. But it is great for me to do, to be able to thank the people that made Philadelphia great for me."

Predictions are great for clicks on a website and debates pretty much everywhere hockey fans gather, online or in person, but in reality they're meaningless because nobody making them has a crystal ball to see into the future. Storylines and trends have to develop. Teams and players have to deal with adversity by living through it or crashing and burning because of it.

Ultimately, a season in the NHL teaches us more than we ever could have predicted. Through 25 percent of this season, here are 12 things we have learned so far:

NEW YORK -- Montreal Canadiens defenseman P.K. Subban hesitated to the point where he almost stopped walking on his way to the team bus.

The question to Subban following the Canadiens' 5-3 win against the New York Islanders at Barclays Center on Friday was if he senses anything different about the Canadiens because they survived, and thrived, without goalie Carey Price, who missed nine games with a lower-body injury before returning in Brooklyn.

"Um, I don't know about that," Subban told NHL.com.

FRISCO, Texas -- John Klingberg is making this look easy.

Through 20 games, the second-year Dallas Stars defenseman leads the NHL with 18 assists, is tied for the League lead with a plus-13 rating, and is tied for fourth with 22 points.

Not bad for someone who is 23 years old.

"Obviously [my start] has been pretty good offensively. I've been having a lot of assists, obviously playing with good players who score goals, and the power play has been good too," Klingberg said Friday.

Washington Capitals captain Alex Ovechkin became the all-time leading goal scorer among Russian players in the NHL on Thursday night by scoring No. 484 in a 3-2 loss to the Dallas Stars.

Ovechkin passed center Sergei Fedorov, who had 483 goals in 1,248 games. Ovechkin has played 777 games. Fedorov was inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame last week. Ovechkin may very well be on his way there.

Here is a sample of what people around the hockey community are saying about Ovechkin as he approaches his next milestone, 500 goals:

NEW YORK -- After a bit of a rough stretch early in the season, forward Kyle Okposo thinks the New York Islanders might finally be starting to click on all cylinders.

"We're getting there. It was a bit of a slow start," Okposo said Wednesday at the NHL Store Powered by Reebok before he signed autographs for fans at a launch for the OYO Sports Rink. "Definitely an adjustment period heading to Brooklyn and a feeling-out period. But I think we have kind of hit our stride. That West Coast trip was good for us, and we just have to keep playing well, keep stringing [wins] together. We have a huge home-and-home this weekend against Montreal."

The Islanders (10-6-3) have scored nine goals their past two games, each a win, after struggling offensively (seven in the previous four games), and Okposo has been one of the reasons for the turnaround. He had three assists in a 5-2 victory against the Arizona Coyotes on Monday and has five assists in the past three games.

Detroit Red Wings center Pavel Datsyuk is three games into his season and still looking for his first point. It'll come soon, perhaps as early as Wednesday, when the Red Wings play the Washington Capitals at Joe Louis Arena (8 p.m. ET; NBCSN, TVA Sports).

Datsyuk is still getting up to speed after missing the first 15 games recovering from ankle surgery.

More importantly, the Red Wings, with Datsyuk's help, finally showed signs of breaking out of a prolonged scoring slump in a 4-3 overtime win against the Ottawa Senators on Monday. They snapped a streak of six consecutive games in which they scored two or fewer goals.

Detroit had a season-high 37 shots on goal against the Senators. It was the first time the Red Wings had more than 30 shots in a game this season.

NEW YORK -- Barclays Center CEO Brett Yormark's credo is to be happy but never satisfied. For all the work he's done to help lifelong New York Islanders fans get to their new arena, Yormark must add some Brooklyn flavor to a marketing recipe designed to create a foothold in the borough.

"I'm excited about the early returns, but we have more work to do," Yormark said. "I'm happy with the move, the team is off to a great start, the fans have been supporting the team, but we can do more. We can grow the base and we will."

The Islanders took a big step in their grassroots effort to grow their brand in Brooklyn on Tuesday when defenseman Nick Leddy became their first player to appear at a community event since they relocated from Long Island to begin the 2015-16 NHL season.

Simon Gagne didn't know it, but he was destined to be with the Philadelphia Flyers.

On Tuesday, the Flyers will honor Gagne, who announced his retirement Sept. 15, before their game against the Los Angeles Kings (7 p.m. ET; FS-W, CSN-PH).

Gagne played 11 of his 14 NHL seasons with the Flyers, and his 264 goals, 535 points and 691 games played rank in the Flyers' top 10. He had seven 20-goal seasons, topped by back-to-back seasons of 47 goals in 2005-06 and 41 in 2006-07.

However, Gagne was surprised to hear the Flyers select him with the 22nd pick of the 1998 NHL Draft. Only later did he learn of his family's connection to the organization.

Pierre Gagne, Simon's father, and Flyers amateur scout Simon Nolet were longtime friends and minor hockey teammates. Decades later, Nolet, who has scouted Quebec-based prospects for the Flyers since 1990, was instrumental in his friend's son being drafted.