The skinny: The Canadiens scored early, often as they grabbed a 4-0 lead in the first period and went on to crush the Western Conference-leading Detroit Red Wings 7-2 Wednesday night at the Bell Centre. David Desharnais led the Canadiens’ offence with two goals and an assist. Rene Bourque, Max Pacioretty, Alexei Emelin, Tomas Plekanec and Erik Cole also scored for the Canadiens. Jiri Hudler scored twice in the third period to spoil Carey Price’s shutout bid.

Where they’re at: A loss would have dropped the Canaiens to 14th in the Eastern standings. Instead, they jump back to 11th place. They go into the All-Star break eight points behind eighth-place New Jersey and the Devils hold a game in hand. Seventh-place Florida and ninth-place Toronto also have eight points on Montreal.

A first for Emelin: The Russian rookie arrived with a reputation for being a physical defenceman and he’s lived up to that billing with a team-high 132 hits. But his offensive output was limited to a single assist before he scored his first NHL goal on a shot from the blueline.

Slight improvement: Jimmy Howard came into the Bell Centre as one of the top goaltenders in the NHL but he was yanked after giving up four goals on 12 shots in the first period. Backup Ty Conklin gave up goals to Pacioretty and Desharnais in the first 4:18 of the second period and a late goal to Cole.

Powering up: The Canadiens’ power play, which ranks last in the NHL, went 1-for-3 with Desharnais connecting at 4:18 of the second period for his second goal of the night. He also had an assist. Meanwhile, the top-ranked Montreal penalty-killing had its usual superb night. The Red Wings had four power plays and managed only two shots on goal.

Subban saga continues: Coach Randy Cunneyworth wasn’t amused when defenceman P.K.Subban took an unnecessary penalty for elbowing at 16:30 of the first period while the Canadiens were on the power play. At the time, Subban was the Canadiens’ leader in ice time with 7:33 but he spent the entire second period with his butt nailed to the bench before resuming a regular shift in the third period. He finished with a season-low 14:44.

Unsung hero: Lars Eller picked up an assist on Cole’s goal but his major contribution was on defence where he and linemates Andrei Kostitsyn and Mike Blunden put the wraps on Pavel Datsyuk and his linemates. Datsyuk had no shots on goal and had three shots blocked.

What’s next: With the exception of goaltender Carey Price and defenceman Raphael Diaz, the Canadiens will enjoy four days off. They’ll return to Brossard for a practice late Monday afternoon and then resume the playoff hunt on Tuesday when the Buffalo Sabres visit the Bell Centre.

phickey@montrealgazette.com