MONTREAL — Straight stats, no fancy stuff, here’s what Jake Evans has provided the Montreal Canadiens in Nick Suzuki’s five-game absence: two goals, three assists, a plus-11 rating, and a 55.4 per cent face-off efficiency while averaging 17:04 per game.

Next-man-up stuff, indeed. Worth highlighting, no doubt. Especially considering Evans normally plays as Montreal's fourth-line centre but has elevated to set the standard for the maturity the young Canadiens are exhibiting night after night without their captain.

“It’s like he always makes the right play,” said Chris Kreider after Evans made enough right plays to notch an assist, win 11 of 16 draws, and finish with a plus-4 rating in a 5-4 win over the Pittsburgh Penguins Saturday.

It was Montreal’s fifth straight win since Suzuki went down with a hand injury. They had two-goal leads in the third period in all five games and executed on the details to win all five in regulation thanks to veterans like the 30-year-old Evans setting the example for players like 22-year-old Owen Beck.

Phillip Danault, who played his 800th NHL game Saturday, is another who’s been doing that. The 33-year-old has been playing close to 20 minutes a night in Suzuki’s absence but not playing any........

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