The Montreal Canadiens’ captain was left off this year’s All-Star roster despite being one of the league’s most consistent scoring threats.

He built a strong case for this month’s event in Los Angeles, right there among the league leaders with 19 goals and he’s been on a roll since the middle of November.

The 28-year-old’s star power still needs a boost, falling well short of his production on the ice.

Only three players have scored more goals (173) than the American winger since 2011: Alex Ovechkin (243), Steven Stamkos (202) and Joe Pavelski (178).

His 129 even-strength goals are bettered only by superstars Ovechkin (139) and Stamkos (139).

”I don’t know about (the media), but we don’t (take him for granted),” Canadiens coach Michel Therrien said recently. ”We appreciate what he’s capable (of doing). The last two months he’s been phenomenal with us.”

After a slow start – just two goals in the first 14 games – Pacioretty has been on a roll.

He’s tied with Sidney Crosby and Jeff Carter for the NHL lead in goals since Nov. 12 with 17. He scored four in three games last week, including back-to-back overtime winners, the second one giving him the franchise lead in OT goals.

His 38 winning goals over the past five-plus seasons trail only Ovechkin’s 42.

Therrien raved about his play, pointing to his ”passion” in particular, and positive influence on the dressing room of the first-place Canadiens.

”He wants to make a difference every game,” Therrien said of Pacioretty, on pace to hit 38 goals and establish a career best with 68 points. ”And he’s doing a hell of a job for us.”

Teammate Mark Barberio thought Pacioretty’s consistency as a scorer – in an era when goals continue to trend downward and goalies get bigger and better – was underrated.

In fact, Pacioretty has been one of the league’s most consistent scoring threats, one of only four players to hit 30 goals in each of the previous four full seasons – the others being Ovechkin, Pavelski and the Ducks’ Corey Perry.

Yet, he’s rarely in the conversation of the league’s top players.

He has probably been overshadowed by star teammates Carey Price, P.K. Subban, Shea Weber and Alex Radulov. He’s also never been the best or even second-best player on his team and his game lacks the sizzle of Ovechkin or Stamkos.

While he may not be flashy, Pacioretty is plenty effective.

Formerly of the Tampa Bay Lightning, Barberio joined the Habs last year and was struck by the quickness of his new teammate’s release, describing his shot as ”world-class”.

”He’s deceptive,” Barberio said. ”And when he brings it to the net he brings it with a lot of force and I think that’s what surprises goalies the most.”

”Not everybody has a shot like that,” he added. ”There’s (only) a few guys in the league that can just beat a goalie clean one-on-one and he’s definitely one of them. We’re lucky to have him.”

Pacioretty’s wrist shot, in particular, has been the NHL’s most potent over the past six seasons. He tops all players with 111 goals on his wrist shot in that span, trailing only the Blues’ Vladimir Tarasenko and Jets’ Mark Scheifele with 12 this season.

Pacioretty doesn’t just score either. Underlying stats that suggest he’s one of the more effective penalty-killing forwards in the NHL, albeit in a secondary role. He’s also one of Montreal’s top puck possession players (53.8 percent), a long 6-foot-2, 215-pound winger who’s spent the season with a variety of linemates because of injuries for the Habs.

Only one Atlantic Division forward, Toronto’s Auston Matthews, has more goals than Pacioretty so far and, heading into Tuesday’s games, only three had more than his 34 points (Nikita Kucherov, Brad Marchand and Matthews).

But it was not enough to earn him a first-time All-Star nod with Price and Weber both garnering spots for Montreal.

”Maybe he flies under the radar but not in this room,” Barberio said. ”We know what he brings.”

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Carey Price made 31 saves, and Andrew Shaw also scored for Montreal. The Canadiens avenged a loss last week in Carolina with backup Al Montoya in goal.

Elias Lindholm scored for Carolina, and Cam Ward stopped 21 shots.

Pacioretty put Montreal ahead early the third when he took the rebound of Tomas Plekanec’s shot off the end boards and banked it in off Ward. Carolina coach Bill Peters challenged that Plekanec was offside but the goal stood up to video review.

In the day’s other game, Ottawa’s Chris Wideman and Kyle Turris scored in the third period to help the Senators beat Boston 3-1.

Mark Stone tied it in the second period, and Craig Anderson made 19 saves.

David Pastrnak scored the opening goal for Boston, and Tuukka Rask stopped 23 shots.

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The Jets’ playoff chances disappeared before their 4-2 loss to the Montreal Canadiens on Thursday.

Winnipeg finished ninth in the Eastern Conference, one spot out of the playoffs and better than last season.

“I’m going to have a hard time drawing on any positives you know, when you’re going home and watching the important hockey being played from your couch again,” Wheeler said.

“Hopefully, we can all look in the mirror and make a change, I think we’re on the right path, but ninth place is a first-class ticket home.”

The Jets were ahead 2-1 as they started the third period, but most already knew their result wouldn’t be enough to advance.

“We knew after the second we are out,” goaltender Ondrej Pavelec said.

“It’s not an excuse at all but it’s tough to play when you know you’ve got 20 minutes left in the season.”

Both the New York Rangers and Ottawa Senators clinched playoff spots with overtime wins Thursday night.

David Desharnais scored the go-ahead goal for Montreal, which came on strong in the third. Rene Bourque, Max Pacioretty and Brendan Gallagher had the others as the Canadiens (28-14-5) broke out of a slump that had seen them lose five of their previous six games.

James Wright and Wheeler scored for the Jets, who finished the season 24-21-3.

Montreal’s win keeps it in the hunt for the top spot in the Northeast Division where it remain tied with Boston.

But the win guarantees the Canadiens at least fourth in the East and home-ice advantage in the first round of the playoffs.

“It’s a big win against a desperate team,” Montreal captain Brian Gionta said.

“It’s huge. Home ice is really big in the playoffs. … You keep forcing plays, you keep being relentless on the puck, eventually they’re going to turn it over and they’re going to get tired and we took advantage in the third.”

Canadiens defenseman P.K. Subban, who had two assists Thursday night, agreed with his captain.

“You want to use that fan base to your advantage. Now that we’ve got home-ice advantage we want to use that.”

The game started well for the Jets.

Chris Thorburn and Wright teamed up in the first to put the Jets ahead 1-0. Wright’s wrist shot from the slot found the upper corner of the Montreal net.

But the Canadiens still managed to spend a lot of time in Winnipeg’s zone.

The Jets were outshot 8-5 in the first and had managed only two more midway through the second when Bourque evened things up.

His shot from the faceoff circle found its way through a mad scramble in front of the Winnipeg net.

Wheeler put the Jets ahead again about five minutes later when he dug a puck out of a scrambling Carey Price in front of the Montreal net and slipped it in.

The third was only about two minutes old when Pavelec intercepted Gallagher’s shot, only to see it rise high in the air and bounce behind him, dribbling over the line before he could grab it.

Desharnais then scored on a 5-on-3 in the third to put the Canadians ahead for the first time.

Pacioretty scored later in the period for a little insurance.

The Jets looked like a good bet to make the postseason until a five-game slide. Even a 6-1-1 record in their last eight games failed to make up all the lost ground.

Their only chance was to win Thursday and have both New York and Ottawa lose all their remaining games.

Coach Claude Noel said he would talk about Winnipeg’s season and future Friday and confined his brief comments to the game.

“I thought the game was OK. They spent too much time in our zone, which I didn’t really like. … I would have liked us to play with a little more zip in the first two periods,” he said.

Note: Jets captain and scoring leader Andrew Ladd finished the season with the best points-per-game average by a Jets (Thrashers) player since Ilya Kovalchuk in 2008-09.

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Therrien was angry after the Canadiens lost by four goals for a second straight game — this time 7-3 to the Philadelphia Flyers on Monday night.

Max Pacioretty, Brendan Gallagher and Alex Galchenyuk scored for the Canadiens (26-11-5), who were coming off a 5-1 loss in Toronto on Saturday. They have had two lopsided losses since clinching a playoff spot on Thursday.

“Since we clinched, our intensity and concentration level, our attention to detail and our work ethic, have fallen a lot,” Therrien said after the loss that helped the struggling Flyers end a four-game losing streak. “You see the results.

“It’s a game of pride. You have to come to the rink ready to play. That’s what we were not doing the last two games. There’s no work ethic there right now. It’s disappointing.”

Scott Hartnell scored three goals, Claude Giroux and Jakub Voracek each had a goal and two assists, and Wayne Simmonds and Erik Gustafsson also scored for the Flyers (18-21-3), who matched their season high for goals as they try to make a late push for a playoff spot.

Philadelphia is in 12th place in the Eastern Conference, four places and seven points behind the New York Rangers and the postseason cutoff. The Flyers have six games remaining, starting with a home matchup with the Rangers on Tuesday.

The Flyers outshot Montreal 33-28 in a sloppy game that had the 21,273 at the Bell Centre booing the Canadiens.

Canadiens goalie Carey Price was pulled for a second game in a row in favor of Peter Budaj. Price left at the end of the second period after allowing six goals on 29 shots.

“Carey Price obviously didn’t have his best night,” said Hartnell, whose team scored only three goals in its previous four games. “We had traffic in front, we were making plays, we were moving our feet in the offensive zone.

“We weren’t standing still with the puck. It’s lot more fun to play games like that instead of 0-0.”

The Canadiens are in danger of losing three in a row for the first time this season when they play at first-place Pittsburgh on Wednesday.

“We always bounced back all season,” said defenseman Francis Bouillon, who was minus-3 on Monday. “We’ve got a lot of character in this room.

“It would be nice to win a few games. We’re not focusing on the playoffs now, but it’s important for us to play some good hockey before the playoffs.”

They could be without Ryan White for a while. White was ejected in the first period for a direct hit to the head of defenseman Kent Huskins, when the Canadiens were trailing 2-0 just 6:11 in. The Flyers said Huskins had a concussion, and he didn’t return to the game.

White launched himself at Huskins but missed his body and caught him on the jaw. Already in trouble with Therrien earlier in the season for taking ill-timed penalties, White’s future with Montreal now looks in doubt.

Price, pulled in Toronto on Saturday after allowing three goals on four shots, gave up two goals on five Philadelphia shots before settling down. The Flyers outshot Montreal 17-8 in the first period.

“It isn’t easy to play every game at the same level,” Canadiens defenseman Andrei Markov said. “Other players can make a mistake, and your partner can cover you. We support him.”

Simmonds broke down right wing and fired a shot that was stopped by Price, but the rebound hit rookie Montreal defenseman Nathan Beaulieu and went in at 2:45.

Gustafsson’s wrist shot from the point went through several bodies in front and trickled between Price’s pads at 5:49.

Consecutive cross-checking calls on the Flyers’ Oliver Lauridsen allowed the Canadiens to tie it as Pacioretty tipped in Tomas Plekanec’s pass in the slot at 19:02. Gallagher scored from in front 38 seconds into the second.

Only 24 seconds later, Josh Gorges overskated a puck behind his net, and Giroux pounced and fed Voracek as the Flyers took a 3-2 lead. Voracek’s 18th goal tied a career high set last season.

Hartnell scored from the slot on a power play at 7:30, but Galchenyuk fought off a check to score at 9:11. Giroux put one in off Markov’s stick at 10:46 for a 5-3 Philadelphia lead.

Hartnell snapped a shot past Budaj from the top of the left circle 12:45 into the third.

Game notes

A moment of silence was held for victims of the Boston Marathon bombing. … Montreal rested banged-up forward Brandon Prust. White took his place in the lineup.

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Pacioretty scored twice to lead the Canadiens to a 5-2 victory over the Maple Leafs on Wednesday night and emphatically avenge a 6-0 home loss on Feb. 9.

There was bad blood between the longtime rivals in that previous meeting when an alleged biting incident involving Mikhail Grabovski and Pacioretty took place.

But instead of physical retaliation, the Canadiens effectively used their speed to outplay Toronto, cementing the win on third-period goals by rookie Brendan Gallagher, Pacioretty and Brian Gionta.

“The coaches talked to us before the game about sticking to our game plan and not getting sucked into the emotions of the game,” Pacioretty said. “I think we did a great job of that.”

Defenseman Josh Gorges echoed Pacioretty’s take on the rematch.

“There’s always a lot of different ideas, different emotions especially after the last way we played these guys about how do we get back,” he said. “It’s not about grabbing somebody and jumping them and feeding them punches because that really doesn’t do us any good in the long run.

“It may feel good for a few minutes if that opportunity did ever come, but ultimately two points always feels better.”

Gallagher scored his sixth of the season at 9:08 of the third period to break a 2-2 tie. Pacioretty clinched the win for Eastern Conference-leading Montreal (13-4-3) with his sixth at 14:26, and Gionta added an empty-net goal with 2:26 left.

Frazer McLaren and Clarke MacArthur scored for Toronto (12-9), which had won three straight at home.

Since being shut out by Toronto, the streaking Canadiens have gone 7-0-2. They outshot the Leafs 40-23 before a crowd of 19,625 — the largest in Toronto this season.

The Maple Leafs, who earned a 2-1 win at Montreal in the season opener, fell to 4-5 at home overall.

“The Maple Leafs played two terrific games at the Bell Centre and we knew we had to bounce back from those type of games,” Canadiens coach Michel Therrien said. “We certainly played a great team game and stuck to our plan, and we were controlling our emotion to play that game.

“Right from the get go I thought our guys were ready to play, and we set the tone. They tried to be physical on us but I was not afraid of that. We just kept focusing on the things we had to do to be successful.”

Maple Leafs goalie Ben Scrivens made his eighth straight start and kept his club in the game, finishing with 35 saves.

“We were flat, flat, flat, flat,” Maple Leafs coach Randy Carlyle said. “It looked like at times that we were playing in our boots and they were playing on skates.

“We just didn’t get anything going for ourselves. I don’t think there’s any way to paint it pretty and I’m sure you guys will give us a lot of help.”

The Canadiens had forward Michael Ryder in the lineup after reacquiring him from the Dallas Stars on Tuesday for Erik Cole.

Ryder didn’t figure in the scoring but wore his usual No. 73 after rookie Gallagher gave it up to him. Ryder has worn No. 73 since breaking into the NHL in 2003. Gallagher wore No. 11.

Montreal controlled much of the first period, outshooting the Leafs 12-4, but McLaren opened the scoring with his second goal at 13:44.

Defenseman Alexei Emelin tied it with his first at 16:56 before Toronto’s Mike Brown received a major penalty for checking from behind. He was ejected after he hit Gorges in the final minute of the period.

Pacioretty put Montreal ahead on the power play at 4:17 of the second. Scrivens attempted to deflect P.K. Subban’s point shot to the corner but it deflected in off Pacioretty for his fifth.

Toronto had a prime chance to tie it when Grabovski was awarded a penalty shot at 11:45 after he was hauled down by Emelin. But Grabovski couldn’t beat Price to the stick side on the attempted deke.

MacArthur tied it at 15:47 with his fifth.

Game notes

This was the third of five meetings this season between the teams. … James Reimer served as Scrivens’ backup after being added to the active roster earlier Wednesday. Reimer had been out since sustaining a knee injury Feb. 11 against Philadelphia. G Jussi Rynnas was reassigned to the AHL’s Toronto Marlies. Reimer is expected to start Thursday at the New York Islanders. … With Rafael Diaz (concussion) out, Montreal D Tomas Kaberle suited up against his former team. … Maple Leafs D Mark Fraser came into the game leading the NHL with a plus-14 rating.

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The feisty rookie forward — who has five goals and three assists — left Saturday night’s game early in the third period after taking a hit from Flyers defenseman Luke Schenn.

Canadiens coach Michel Therrien said Gallagher was already “feeling a lot better,” though he stressed that the club will follow league protocol and make sure he’s fully recovered.

“We never want to put a player’s health in danger,” Therrien said after Sunday’s practice. “When he gets back in the lineup, he will be healthy.”

Under the NHL’s new rules this year, a player who suffers a concussion no longer has to remain inactive for seven days, but must pass a series of tests. Gallagher had one concussion while playing juniors.

When asked whether Schenn’s hit should get a second look by the league, Therrien said it’s not for him to decide.

“I honestly hope that all body checks like this are reviewed,” he said. “I have nothing else to add.”

Gallagher had a goal and an assist against the Flyers before getting hurt, helping the Canadiens to their third straight win, 4-1.

Forward Max Pacioretty, who also left Saturday night’s game after getting cut by a skate as he drove to the net, was treated with stitches and was back at practice Sunday.

Pacioretty has a history of quickly returning from injuries, but he said he wasn’t feeling 100 percent and would see how he felt on Monday before deciding if he can play against Carolina later that night.

Defenseman P.K. Subban, out with the flu, and Gallagher were the only players missing from Sunday’s practice. Subban could also sit out of Monday’s game.

Carey Price, meanwhile, is feeling better after his own bout with the flu, but backup Peter Budaj could still get the start in goal against the Hurricanes.

The Canadiens travel to New York to face the Rangers on Tuesday. Goalie Robert Mayer, called up from Hamilton of the AHL on Saturday to back up Budaj, was sent back down.

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The Canadiens earned their third straight win Saturday night when Brendan Gallagher and Rene Bourque each had a goal and an assist in a 4-1 victory over the sagging Philadelphia Flyers.

The win came a week to the day after a 6-0 whitewashing by Toronto at the Bell Centre.

Defenseman Josh Gorges said the club did right to forget that defeat and focus on the games ahead.

“I thought the way we handled that game, with (Erik) Cole getting the guys together, guys talking and coming back to work the right way. … You can lick your wounds and feel sorry for yourselves and point fingers, but instead of doing that we decided to look in the mirror, and be accountable and get better,” Gorges said. “We had a good week.”

The Canadiens rebounded with a 4-3 shootout win at Tampa Bay on Tuesday night and a 1-0 overtime win over the Panthers in Florida on Thursday before putting away Philadelphia.

“It was important to bounce back,” coach Michel Therrien said. “We got better each game. I like how we competed. I couldn’t ask for more.”

David Desharnais and Tomas Plekanec also scored for the Canadiens, while backup Peter Budaj got his first win in three starts this season while filling in for Carey Price, who was at home sick. Max Pacioretty and Brian Gionta each had a pair of assists.

Daniel Briere had the lone goal for the Flyers, who have lost three of their last four and looked tired and listless as they were outshot 29-19. The Flyers had only seven shots when Briere scored more than halfway through the second period.

Captain Claude Giroux’s concern with his team’s flat play was evident when he spoke after the game.

“There’s no compete,” he said. “We’re not winning battles.

“We’re just going through the motions. You know, we’re a young team that can skate. We should be winning more battles than this. It’s just frustrating to see. I know I have to be better, but a team is 20 guys and you need everybody to show up.”

Brian Boucher started in place of Ilya Bryzgalov and had little chance on the Montreal goals.

“Sometimes there are games where you go out there and see how it plays out,” Boucher said. “You don’t want to play the game that way. You want to be on the attack, on the balls of your feet. Maybe that was the case tonight.”

It may have been a costly win for Montreal, which has been healthy since the start of the season except for center Petteri Nokelainen’s back injury.

Gallagher left four minutes into the third period after he was checked into the boards by Luke Schenn, and Pacioretty exited the game after crashing either an elbow or his ribs into a goalpost after being hauled down by Kimmo Timonen at 11:52.

Therrien said both players had upper body injuries and would undergo tests to determine the extent of the problems.

Later, forward Colby Armstrong took a puck to face and went for treatment. And then defenseman Alexei Emelin struggled to the bench after being checked from behind by Giroux, although he stayed in the game.

The Flyers were coming off a 5-3 loss to New Jersey on Friday night. They were outshot 12-2 in the opening period but Boucher kept them in the game.

Gallagher got his fifth of the season at 8:53 after taking a feed from Pacioretty and putting a nifty move on Timonen before scoring on a low shot.

Gallagher and Pacioretty combined again to feed Desharnais alone in front 1:15 into the second frame.

Defenseman P.K. Subban made a sprawling save after Budaj misplayed a puck behind his crease, but the shutout was broken moments later when Briere put a shot in off Andrei Markov’s leg at 13:56.

Plekanec got his seventh of the season 4:32 into the third as he took his own rebound off defenseman Braydon Coburn and fired it past the sprawled Boucher.

Bourque was credited with an empty-net goal at 18:56.

Game notes

Goalie Robert Mayer was called up from AHL Hamilton to back up Budaj. … Montreal defenseman Alexei Emelin, hit on the face by a puck in the preseason, has traded in his face cage for a visor. … Ryan White, Yannick Weber and Tomas Kaberle were scratched for Montreal. The Flyers sat out Kurtis Foster, Herry Zolnierczyk and Tom Sestito.

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