It’s been an interesting first quarter of the season for Ben Chiarot. He had his early struggles, but has since come into his own as the season wears on. In the Montreal Canadiens’ win over the Boston Bruins in early November, he and Shea Weber combined to shut down a vaunted Bruins attack for three period. On Sunday, on the second night of a back-to-back, without a regular top-four option, it was Chiarot who ended up leading the defence again.
At five-on-five, Chiarot led the Canadiens in ice time by over four minutes over the next closest player, Jeff Petry, and by over five minutes compared to Weber.