The dream of 82-0 is long gone.

After winning their first four games, the Vancouver Canucks have quickly fallen from grace, currently riding a five-game losing streak after Saturday's 5-2 loss to the Washington Capitals.

The Canucks' 4-0 start was fool's gold, though, as they managed to win three of those games without even leading, repeatedly squeaking out victories in overtime.

Since losing 4-3 to Los Angeles in a shootout Oct. 22 - their first loss - the Canucks have been held off the scoreboard twice, and have only scored four goals in their last four contests.

Vancouver sits dead last in the NHL with only 16 goals for. Even more troublesome, the Canucks are hardly generating chances, averaging a league-worst 25 shots per game.

Strong goaltending provided Vancouver's hot start, but as the season wears on and percentages even out, the Canucks seem likely to continue the downward trend.

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Those Montreal Canadiens, so hot right now.

Upon starting the season 8-0-1, the Habs became the second team in NHL history to win eight of its first nine games in consecutive seasons, according to Elias Sports Bureau.

The only other team that's accomplished the feat is the original Ottawa Senators, in 1925-26 and 1926-27.

The Canadiens sit atop the NHL standings with 17 points, and own a league-leading goal differential of plus-17.

Last season, Montreal went 10-2 in October, but an injury to world-class goaltender Carey Price quickly reversed the club's fortunes.

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Sidney Crosby seems to be doing just fine.

Questions and concerns regarding the superstar's health have given way to momentary sighs of relief as the Pittsburgh Penguins captain picks up right where he left off: dominating.

Coming off a remarkable playoffs and World Cup performance, the hockey world was back to celebrating its best player, but another concussion diagnosis - with no immediate timetable - seemingly spoiled everything.

But after missing the Penguins' first six games, Crosby's returned to the tune of five points in three games - most recently, a two-goal effort Saturday versus the Flyers.

Dating back to February, Crosby has recorded a point in 23 of his past 24 regular-season games, accumulating 34 points in that span. Add in 19 postseason points, as well as a tournament-leading 10 points for Team Canada, and it's easy to conclude Crosby is on an absolute tear.

His production shouldn't be all that surprising; he is Sidney Crosby, after all. But while the NHL's early-season narrative has been dictated primarily by the kids, Crosby, erasing a cloud of doubt, has served a reminder that he still owns the mantle as the world's best.

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It's apparently not too early to think big picture when you go undefeated in regulation throughout the month of October.

It's expected the Montreal Canadiens will look to acquire a top-four defenseman via trade to ease the load on veterans Shea Weber and Andrei Markov, Sportsnet's Nick Kypreos reported Saturday.

"(Montreal) is concerned about the ice time and the weight on the shoulders of Shea Weber, who many feel ran out of gas toward the latter part of last season."

Montreal has a defenseman they drafted in the first round to fill that top-four role on the active roster, but Kypreos says that it's a "foregone conclusion" Mikhail Sergachev will be sent back to the Ontario Hockey League's Windsor Spitfires, who are set to host this year's Memorial Cup.

The ninth overall draft pick and youngest player in the NHL right now, Sergachev has dressed in three games for the Canadiens, but not in their last five.

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MONTREAL - Shea Weber blasted in another power-play goal, Carey Price had another strong start and the Montreal Canadiens kept on winning.

Weber broke a tie in the third period and Price made 37 saves, lifting Montreal over the Toronto Maple Leafs 2-1 on Saturday night for its seventh straight victory.

''We struggled early in the game but we just seemed to come up with the timely one again,'' said Weber, who has four goals in his first nine games as a Canadien, three of them by using his booming shot from the point on the power play.

''You want to score big goals and tonight we were fortunate to do that.''

Alex Galchenyuk also scored for Montreal, which is 8-0-1 and the only NHL club without a regulation loss this season. The Canadiens are one point short of their 9-0-0 start last season, which ended with a 5-1 loss in Vancouver. Their next game is at home Wednesday night against the Canucks.

Price has won all five of his starts this season with a 1.40 goals-against average and .954 save percentage.

''He is so positionally sound and reads the game so well, he makes it look easy,'' Weber said.

Nazem Kadri scored for the Leafs, who were coming off a 3-2 win Thursday over Florida.

Frederik Andersen had 29 stops for the Leafs. Montreal has won 11 straight over Toronto, which last beat the Canadiens on Jan. 18, 2014.

The Canadiens were on a 4-on-3 power play when Alexander Radulov slid a pass to Weber for a blast from about 35 feet out that went inside the right post.

''I didn't like the four-on-three goal,'' Maple Leafs coach Mike Babcock said. ''That's on the coaches. We shouldn't have let Weber hammer away there. But we had good chances. Carey made some good saves. Our goaltender made some good saves. It was a good hockey game.''

The Canadiens had the better scoring chances early on and got the first goal 2:06 into the second frame.

Radulov collected the puck behind the Toronto defense and fed the trailing Galchenyuk for a high shot into an open side that left no chance for Andersen.

Price then had to be at his best as the Leafs poured on pressure. He stopped William Nylander in alone midway through the second and then made two sharp saves in traffic.

''Toronto played a good game,'' said Montreal coach Michel Therrien. ''They have a lot of speed.

''We played five games in eight nights and we didn't have a lot of energy. But Price was outstanding. He stole the game.''

Radulov was off for hooking when Kadri redirected Nylander's shot from the right point along the ice past Price 4:18 into the third period.

NOTES: Montreal coach Michel Therrien juggled his lines, moving Radulov onto the top unit with Galchenyuk and Brendan Gallagher. Radulov had two assists.

UP NEXT

Maple Leafs: At the New York Islanders on Sunday night to complete a back-to-back.

Canadiens: Host Vancouver on Wednesday night.

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