MONTREAL -

Watching Scott Gomez pile up four assists in two games playing alongside Max Pacioretty and Brian Gionta appeared to lend credence to my somewhat cockamamie theory that Gomez requires some sort of muse to inspire him.

But now that he's exceeded his point total over the previous 11 games in only two nights, I'm starting to think it might not be so cockamamie after all.

Gionta, on the other hand, doesn't agree.

In a little lull in the Canadiens dressing room following Thursday's sendoff 4-3 win over the Boston Bruins - one that vaulted Montreal into second in the conference before the team embarks on a seven-game road trip from hell straddling the Christmas break - I caught Gionta alone and figured I'd bounce the theory off of him.

Who knows? Maybe he'd agree, and then I'd really be on to something.

Not so much.

"I think you're kind of reaching there," he said, being very polite not to call me crazy, or something worse. "It's a little too early for that."

Either way, there's no doubt Gomez has come to life a little bit and the Canadiens have had two dangerous scoring lines the past two games, with Pacioretty leading the charge with some aggressive, yet simple play.

But even Jacques Martin wouldn't agree with my theory.

"I think it helps, but like in any situation a players has to help himself," Martin said when asked to assess Pacioretty's impact on Gomez's game. "Scott Gomez is clearly playing better than he was when he got injured."

Whatever the reason, this mini awakening from what's been a season-long slump is a good sign for a Canadiens team heading into its most pivotal stretch of the season.

Thursday was Montreal's 19th home game of the season, and they have a 12-5-2 record at the Bell Centre. Their next home game will be Jan. 2 against Atlanta, and after that game they will have played 20 at home and 20 on the road. It will give us a much better picture of what kind of team this is.

Cammalleri serenaded

Michael Cammalleri had himself quite a night, scoring on his first career penalty shot and getting stitched up after his first career fight.

To celebrate, Maxim Lapierre played "Eye of the Tiger" in the dressing room as Cammalleri was talking to reporters. No, correction, he blasted it.

It was a good laugh.

But the Plekanec effect on Cammalleri is another trickle down from Pacioretty's arrival. He's been pulled away from Gomez, a player who has been far less defensively responsible this season than he has in the past.

Watch Gomez when the puck is in the Montreal zone and he is often playing the wing position up high along the boards. That's because he is rarely, if ever, the first forward back defensively, so his wingers have to grab his more demanding centre position.

For Gionta that's not such a big deal, but for Cammalleri it is. And it was showing.

Playing with Plekanec, you never have that problem.