Danault among the NHL's elite

MONTREAL - Over the last three games, Phillip Danault won three faceoffs that led to the Canadiens lighting the lamp three times.

First off, Danault helped defenseman Brett Kulak score a short-handed marker during last Saturday's game against the Colorado Avalanche by winning a draw. It proved to be the game-winner.

Danault has won more faceoffs in short-handed situations than any other player in the League with 99. Adam Lowry of the Winnipeg Jets ranks second with 77.
The Habs' centerman also won a key faceoff at the end of the game against the Avalanche that led to Jordie Benn capping the scoring with an empty-netter.

Monday night in Boston, Danault won another big faceoff in opposition territory to give the puck to Jeff Petry. The veteran defenseman let a good shot go that was deflected by Brendan Gallagher. That tied things up at the end of the first period against the Bruins.

Now that the regular season series against the Bruins is over, we can compare Danault's statistics in the faceoff circle against one of the best pivots in the League, Patrice Bergeron.
Danault and Bergeron only squared off twice during the 2018-19 campaign because an injury prevented the Bruins' star from appearing in the two other matchups against Montreal.
During the first tilt on October 27, Danault won eight of his 14 faceoffs against Bergeron, operating at a 57% clip. The Canadiens earned a 3-0 victory.
The Victoriaville native enjoyed similar success in Monday's 3-2 win in Massachusetts. He won nine of his 15 draws against Bergeron for a 60% success rate.
We can clearly see the correlation that exists between faceoffs and victories.
Another impressive statistic in Danault's case is that he has won 513 of the 1,391 faceoffs taken by Canadiens centermen. That means that Danault has won 36.88% of the club's draws on the year.
He ranks seventh in the League in that category, and is among elite company in that regard. The only players ahead of him are Bo Horvat, Aleksander Barkov, Jonathan Toews, Ryan O'Reilly, Anze Kopitar and Sidney Crosby.
That's proof positive that Danault is already a leader in his field.
The 25-year-old forward is in the midst of the best offensive season of his career. With his eighth tally of the season on Tuesday night against the Panthers at the Bell Centre, Danault matched his goal total from last season.

He is just eight points away from matching his NHL career high of 40, with 34 games still remaining on the schedule this season.
Danault's name could very well appear on the list of candidates for the Frank J. Selke Trophy at season's end.