Canadiens' Shea Weber: Breaks drought Thursday

Weber had an assist to go with three shots, two hits and two blocks in 30:09 of ice time in Montreal's 4-2 loss to Minnesota on Thursday.

Analysis:

Weber's point drought reached 10 games before he assisted on Max Pacioretty's shorthanded goal in the first period. While his scoring has dropped off, Weber continues to provide value in the defense-centric categories like hits and blocked shots. The ice time was a season high for Weber, who shouldered a heavier load with both Andrei Markov (lower body) and Alexei Emelin (personal) out of action. We'll see how much that affects Weber on the second night of a back-to-back set in Columbus on Friday.