1978–79 Montreal Canadiens season

1978–79 Montreal Canadiens
Stanley Cup champions
Wales Conference champions
Norris Division champions
Division1st Norris
Conference1st Wales
1978–79 record52–17–11
Home record29–6–5
Road record23–11–6
Goals for337
Goals against204
Team information
General managerIrving Grundman
CoachScotty Bowman
CaptainYvan Cournoyer
Alternate captainsNone
ArenaMontreal Forum
Team leaders
GoalsGuy Lafleur (52)
AssistsGuy Lafleur (77)
PointsGuy Lafleur (129)
Penalty minutesGilles Lupien (124)
Plus/minusPierre Mondou (+59)
WinsKen Dryden (30)
Goals against averageKen Dryden (2.30)

The 1978–79 Montreal Canadiens season was the club's 70th season. The franchise won 52 games and had 11 ties for a total of 115 points, but they finished second overall in the league as the New York Islanders finished first overall by one point.[1] The Canadiens won the Stanley Cup for the fourth consecutive time, the 15th time in the past 24 seasons, and their 22nd overall. The Canadiens won the Stanley Cup on home ice for the first time since 1968.[1][2]

Offseason

Regular season

Season standings

Norris Division
GP W L T GF GA Pts
Montreal Canadiens 80 52 17 11 337 204 115
Pittsburgh Penguins 80 36 31 13 281 279 85
Los Angeles Kings 80 34 34 12 292 286 80
Washington Capitals 80 24 41 15 273 338 63
Detroit Red Wings 80 23 41 16 252 295 62

[3]

Note: W = Wins, L = Losses, T = Ties, GF = Goals For, GA = Goals Against, Pts = Points
       Teams that qualified for the playoffs are highlighted in bold.

Record vs. opponents

Norris Division record vs. opponents


Schedule and results

Regular season schedule
No. R Date Score Opponent Record
1 W October 11, 1978 5–2 Minnesota North Stars (1978–79) 1–0–0
2 W October 14, 1978 5–2 Colorado Rockies (1978–79) 2–0–0
3 W October 15, 1978 3–2 @ Philadelphia Flyers (1978–79) 3–0–0
4 L October 17, 1978 1–3 @ New York Islanders (1978–79) 3–1–0
5 L October 20, 1978 5–7 @ Atlanta Flames (1978–79) 3–2–0
6 W October 22, 1978 8–4 Los Angeles Kings (1978–79) 4–2–0
7 T October 25, 1978 4–4 @ Toronto Maple Leafs (1978–79) 4–2–1
8 L October 28, 1978 1–2 New York Rangers (1978–79) 4–3–1
9 L October 29, 1978 1–4 @ Chicago Black Hawks (1978–79) 4–4–1
10 W November 1, 1978 4–1 @ Detroit Red Wings (1978–79) 5–4–1
11 W November 2, 1978 4–2 Washington Capitals (1978–79) 6–4–1
12 W November 4, 1978 4–2 Atlanta Flames (1978–79) 7–4–1
13 T November 5, 1978 1–1 @ Boston Bruins (1978–79) 7–4–2
14 W November 8, 1978 6–0 @ Washington Capitals (1978–79) 8–4–2
15 W November 9, 1978 8–3 Detroit Red Wings (1978–79) 9–4–2
16 W November 11, 1978 3–2 Toronto Maple Leafs (1978–79) 10–4–2
17 W November 15, 1978 6–1 @ Colorado Rockies (1978–79) 11–4–2
18 L November 16, 1978 3–6 @ Los Angeles Kings (1978–79) 11–5–2
19 W November 18, 1978 4–2 @ Vancouver Canucks (1978–79) 12–5–2
20 W November 22, 1978 3–2 @ Pittsburgh Penguins (1978–79) 13–5–2
21 W November 23, 1978 8–4 Pittsburgh Penguins (1978–79) 14–5–2
22 L November 25, 1978 3–8 Chicago Black Hawks (1978–79) 14–6–2
23 W November 28, 1978 3–0 Philadelphia Flyers (1978–79) 15–6–2
24 W December 2, 1978 8–1 Buffalo Sabres (1978–79) 16–6–2
25 W December 3, 1978 4–1 @ Buffalo Sabres (1978–79) 17–6–2
26 T December 6, 1978 2–2 @ Detroit Red Wings (1978–79) 17–6–3
27 T December 8, 1978 3–3 Pittsburgh Penguins (1978–79) 17–6–4
28 W December 10, 1978 4–3 New York Islanders (1978–79) 18–6–4
29 W December 12, 1978 6–0 @ St. Louis Blues (1978–79) 19–6–4
30 W December 13, 1978 3–2 @ Minnesota North Stars (1978–79) 20–6–4
31 W December 16, 1978 5–2 @ Los Angeles Kings (1978–79) 21–6–4
32 W December 20, 1978 5–3 @ Chicago Black Hawks (1978–79) 22–6–4
33 W December 21, 1978 5–1 Chicago Black Hawks (1978–79) 23–6–4
34 W December 23, 1978 3–2 Colorado Rockies (1978–79) 24–6–4
35 W December 27, 1978 5–2 @ Detroit Red Wings (1978–79) 25–6–4
36 T December 28, 1978 3–3 Los Angeles Kings (1978–79) 25–6–5
37 W December 30, 1978 6–1 Boston Bruins (1978–79) 26–6–5
38 L January 3, 1979 2–6 @ New York Rangers (1978–79) 26–7–5
39 L January 4, 1979 4–5 Los Angeles Kings (1978–79) 26–8–5
40 W January 6, 1979 2–0 Vancouver Canucks (1978–79) 27–8–5
41 W January 8, 1979 3–1 Minnesota North Stars (1978–79) 28–8–5
42 L January 10, 1979 2–3 @ Pittsburgh Penguins (1978–79) 28–9–5
43 W January 13, 1979 5–2 Buffalo Sabres (1978–79) 29–9–5
44 T January 16, 1979 2–2 @ Vancouver Canucks (1978–79) 29–9–6
45 W January 17, 1979 7–3 @ Los Angeles Kings (1978–79) 30–9–6
46 T January 20, 1979 5–5 Philadelphia Flyers (1978–79) 30–9–7
47 W January 23, 1979 6–3 @ St. Louis Blues (1978–79) 31–9–7
48 W January 25, 1979 6–0 Atlanta Flames (1978–79) 32–9–7
49 W January 27, 1979 3–1 Boston Bruins (1978–79) 33–9–7
50 W January 29, 1979 7–3 @ Philadelphia Flyers (1978–79) 34–9–7
51 W January 31, 1979 4–1 @ Pittsburgh Penguins (1978–79) 35–9–7
52 W February 3, 1979 6–3 @ Toronto Maple Leafs (1978–79) 36–9–7
53 W February 4, 1979 8–4 @ Washington Capitals (1978–79) 37–9–7
54 T February 15, 1979 2–2 Los Angeles Kings (1978–79) 37–9–8
55 W February 17, 1979 2–0 Washington Capitals (1978–79) 38–9–8
56 W February 18, 1979 5–2 @ Buffalo Sabres (1978–79) 39–9–8
57 L February 21, 1979 1–3 @ Pittsburgh Penguins (1978–79) 39–10–8
58 W February 22, 1979 12–0 Pittsburgh Penguins (1978–79) 40–10–8
59 W February 24, 1979 6–4 St. Louis Blues (1978–79) 41–10–8
60 W February 25, 1979 8–5 @ Washington Capitals (1978–79) 42–10–8
61 L February 27, 1979 3–7 @ New York Islanders (1978–79) 42–11–8
62 W March 1, 1979 2–1 Toronto Maple Leafs (1978–79) 43–11–8
63 L March 3, 1979 3–5 Detroit Red Wings (1978–79) 43–12–8
64 T March 5, 1979 2–2 @ Washington Capitals (1978–79) 43–12–9
65 W March 8, 1979 11–1 Vancouver Canucks (1978–79) 44–12–9
66 L March 10, 1979 3–6 New York Rangers (1978–79) 44–13–9
67 T March 12, 1979 3–3 Detroit Red Wings (1978–79) 44–13–10
68 L March 14, 1979 3–4 @ Minnesota North Stars (1978–79) 44–14–10
69 L March 17, 1979 1–3 @ Los Angeles Kings (1978–79) 44–15–10
70 W March 18, 1979 3–1 @ Colorado Rockies (1978–79) 45–15–10
71 L March 22, 1979 3–5 New York Islanders (1978–79) 45–16–10
72 W March 24, 1979 3–1 Washington Capitals (1978–79) 46–16–10
73 W March 25, 1979 1–0 @ New York Rangers (1978–79) 47–16–10
74 W March 27, 1979 6–4 @ Atlanta Flames (1978–79) 48–16–10
75 W March 29, 1979 5–2 St. Louis Blues (1978–79) 49–16–10
76 W March 31, 1979 5–3 Pittsburgh Penguins (1978–79) 50–16–10
77 T April 1, 1979 3–3 @ Boston Bruins (1978–79) 50–16–11
78 W April 4, 1979 4–1 Detroit Red Wings (1978–79) 51–16–11
79 W April 7, 1979 10–3 Washington Capitals (1978–79) 52–16–11
80 L April 8, 1979 0–1 @ Detroit Red Wings (1978–79) 52–17–11

[5]

Playoffs

See also: 1979 Stanley Cup playoffs and 1979 Stanley Cup Finals
1979 Stanley Cup Playoffs
Quarterfinals vs. Toronto Maple Leafs (4-0)
# Date Opponent Score Location/Attendance Series
1 April 16 Maple Leafs 5–2 Montreal Forum MTL 1–0
2 April 18 Maple Leafs 5-1 Montreal Forum MTL 2–0
3 April 21 @Maple Leafs 4–3 (2OT) Maple Leaf Gardens MTL 3–0
4 April 22 @Maple Leafs 5-4 (OT) Maple Leaf Gardens MTL 4–0
Semifinals vs. Boston Bruins (4-3)
# Date Opponent Score Location/Attendance Series
1 April 26 Bruins 4–2 Montreal Forum MTL 1–0
2 April 28 Bruins 5—2 Montreal Forum MTL 2–0
3 May 1 @Bruins 1–2 Boston Garden MTL 2–1
4 May 3 @Bruins 3–4 Boston Garden Tie 2–2
5 May 5 Bruins 5-1 Montreal Forum MTL 3–2
6 May 8 @Bruins 2-5 Boston Garden Tie 3–3
7 May 10 Bruins 5–4 (OT) Montreal Forum MTL 4–3
Stanley Cup Finals vs. New York Rangers (4-1)
# Date Opponent Score Location/Attendance Series
1 May 13 Rangers 1–4 Montreal Forum NYR 1–0
2 May 15 Rangers 6–2 Montreal Forum Tie 1–1
3 May 17 @Rangers 4–1 Madison Square Garden MTL 2–1
4 May 19 @Rangers 4–3 (OT) Madison Square Garden MTL 3–1
5 May 21 Rangers 4-1 Montreal Forum MTL 4–1
Legend:        = Win        = Loss

Player statistics

Regular season

Scoring

Player Pos GP G A Pts PIM +/- PPG SHG GWG
Guy Lafleur RW 80 52 77 129 28 56 13 0 12
Steve Shutt LW 72 37 40 77 31 37 10 0 6
Pierre Mondou C 77 31 41 72 26 59 6 1 7
Yvon Lambert LW 79 26 40 66 26 30 5 1 7
Larry Robinson D 67 16 45 61 33 50 4 0 1
Mario Tremblay RW 76 30 29 59 74 23 3 0 4
Jacques Lemaire C 50 24 31 55 10 9 6 1 4
Guy Lapointe D 69 13 42 55 43 27 6 0 1
Rejean Houle W 66 17 34 51 43 16 6 0 4
Bob Gainey LW 79 20 18 38 44 11 1 1 1
Serge Savard D 80 7 26 33 30 46 1 2 0
Mark Napier RW 54 11 20 31 11 17 2 0 0
Doug Risebrough C 48 10 15 25 62 22 0 0 2
Doug Jarvis C 80 10 13 23 16 5 0 1 1
Pierre Larouche C 36 9 13 22 4 3 4 0 0
Pat Hughes RW 41 9 8 17 22 7 1 0 1
Rick Chartraw D/RW 62 5 11 16 29 14 0 0 1
Brian Engblom D 62 3 11 14 60 21 0 0 0
Gilles Lupien D 72 1 9 10 124 33 0 0 0
Rod Langway D 45 3 4 7 30 5 0 0 0
Yvan Cournoyer RW 15 2 5 7 2 5 0 0 0
Cam Connor RW 23 1 3 4 39 2 0 0 0
Ken Dryden G 47 0 3 3 4 0 0 0 0
Michel Larocque G 34 0 3 3 2 0 0 0 0
Dan Newman LW 16 0 2 2 4 -1 0 0 0
Dave Lumley RW 3 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0

Goaltending

Player MIN GP W L T GA GAA SO
Ken Dryden 2814 47 30 10 7 108 2.30 5
Michel Larocque 1986 34 22 7 4 94 2.84 3
Team: 4800 80 52 17 11 202 2.52 8

Playoffs

Scoring

Player Pos GP G A Pts PIM PPG SHG GWG
Jacques Lemaire C 16 11 12 23 6 6 0 2
Guy Lafleur RW 16 10 13 23 0 2 0 2
Bob Gainey LW 16 6 10 16 10 0 0 1
Larry Robinson D 16 6 9 15 8 1 0 1
Yvon Lambert LW 16 5 6 11 16 2 0 1
Steve Shutt LW 11 4 7 11 6 1 0 0
Pierre Mondou C 16 3 6 9 4 1 0 0
Serge Savard D 16 2 7 9 6 1 0 1
Guy Lapointe D 10 2 6 8 10 1 0 0
Mario Tremblay RW 13 3 4 7 13 0 0 1
Doug Risebrough C 15 1 6 7 32 0 0 1
Rejean Houle W 7 1 5 6 2 0 0 0
Mark Napier RW 12 3 2 5 2 0 0 0
Doug Jarvis C 12 1 3 4 4 0 0 0
Pierre Larouche C 6 1 3 4 0 0 0 1
Rick Chartraw D/RW 16 2 1 3 24 0 0 0
Pat Hughes RW 8 1 2 3 4 0 0 0
Ken Dryden G 16 0 3 3 2 0 0 0
Cam Connor RW 8 1 0 1 0 0 0 1
Brian Engblom D 16 0 1 1 11 0 0 0
Rod Langway D 8 0 0 0 16 0 0 0
Michel Larocque G 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Gilles Lupien D 13 0 0 0 2 0 0 0

Goaltending

Player MIN GP W L GA GAA SO
Ken Dryden 990 16 12 4 41 2.48 0
Michel Larocque 20 1 0 0 0 0.00 0
Team: 1010 16 12 4 41 2.44 0

[6]

Note:
Pos = Position; GPI = Games played in; G = Goals; A = Assists; Pts = Points; PIM = Penalty minutes; +/- = Plus/minus; PPG = Power-play goals; SHG = Short-handed goals; GWG = Game-winning goals
Min, TOI = Minutes played; W = Wins; L = Losses; T,T/OT = Ties; OTL = Overtime losses; GA = Goals-against; GAA = Goals-against average; SO = Shutouts; SA = Shots against; SV = Shots saved; SV% = Save percentage;

Awards and records

Transactions

Draft picks

Montreal's draft picks at the 1978 NHL Amateur Draft held at the Queen Elizabeth Hotel in Montreal.

Round # Player Nationality College/Junior/Club team (League)
1 8 Dan Geoffrion  Canada Cornwall Royals (QMJHL)
1 17 Dave Hunter  Canada Sudbury Wolves (OMJHL)
2 30 Dale Yakiwchuk  Canada Portland Winterhawks (WCHL)
2 36 Ron Carter  Canada Sherbrooke Castors (QMJHL)
3 42 Richard David  Canada Trois-Rivières Draveurs (QMJHL)
4 69 Kevin Reeves  Canada Montreal Juniors (QMJHL)
5 86 Mike Boyd  Canada Sault Ste. Marie Greyhounds (OMJHL)
6 103 Keith Acton  Canada Peterborough Petes (OMJHL)
7 120 Jim Lawson  Canada Brown University (ECAC)
8 137 Larry Landon  Canada Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute (ECAC)
9 154 Kevin Constantine  United States Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute (ECAC)
10 171 John Swan  Canada McGill University (CIAU)
11 186 Daniel Metivier  Canada Hull Olympiques (QMJHL)
12 201 Viacheslav Fetisov  Soviet Union CSKA Moscow (Russia)
13 212 Jeff Mars  United States University of Michigan (WCHA)
14 222 Greg Tignanelli  United States Northern Michigan University (CCHA)
15 225 George Goulakos  Canada St. Lawrence University (ECAC)
16 227 Ken Moodie  Canada Colgate University (ECAC)
17 229 Serge LeBlanc  Canada University of Vermont (ECAC)
18 230 Bob Magnuson  United States Merrimack College (ECAC)
19 231 Chris Nilan  United States Northeastern University (ECAC)
20 232 Rick Wilson  Canada St. Lawrence University (ECAC)
21 233 Louis Sleigher  Canada Chicoutimi Saguenéens (QMJHL)
22 234 Doug Robb  Canada Billings Bighorns (WCHL)

See also

References

  1. ^ a b The Montreal Canadiens:100 Years of Glory, D'Arcy Jenish, p.234, Published in Canada by Doubleday, 2009, ISBN 978-0-385-66325-0
  2. ^ "Canadiens do it again". St Petersburg Times (Page 21). May 22, 1979. Retrieved June 12, 2013.
  3. ^ National Hockey League Official Guide and Record Book 2006, p. 163, Dan Diamond & Associates, Toronto, Ontario, ISBN 0-920445-98-5
  4. ^ "All-Time NHL Results". NHL.com. Retrieved August 25, 2023.
  5. ^ "1978–79 Montreal Canadiens Games". Hockey-reference.com. Retrieved July 14, 2009.
  6. ^ "1978-79 Montreal Canadiens Statistics - Hockey-Reference.com". hockey-reference.com. Retrieved May 28, 2009.
  7. ^ National Hockey League Official Guide and Record Book 2006, p.220, Dan Diamond & Associates, Toronto, Ontario, ISBN 0-920445-98-5
Preceded by Montreal Canadiens
Stanley Cup Champions
1979 		Succeeded by