2007–08 Montreal Canadiens season

The 2007–08 Montreal Canadiens season was the Canadiens' 99th season of play and 91st in the National Hockey League. The Canadiens defeated the Boston Bruins by four games to three in the Eastern Conference Quarter-final before being eliminated four games to one by the Philadelphia Flyers in the Conference Semi-final.

Offseason events

Key dates prior to the start of the season:

The 2007 NHL Entry Draft took place in Columbus, Ohio, on June 22–23.
The free agency period began on July 1.
Regular season

Although some media picked the Canadiens to not make the playoffs, the team surprised the league with a large improvement in its play. The club won the Northeast Division title and placed first in the Eastern Conference. It was the team's first divisional title since the 1991–92 season. The team had not placed first in the Conference since the 1988–89 season.
The Canadiens retired two jersey numbers during the season with pre-game ceremonies at the Bell Centre. On November 19, 2007, the number 19 of defenceman Larry Robinson, a former member of the Big Three, was retired. On February 23, 2008, the number 23 of forward Bob Gainey was retired.
The Canadiens finished the regular season leading the NHL in power-play goals scored and power-play percentage. They also tied the Florida Panthers for the fewest shorthanded goals allowed, with three.

Highlights

On October 10, 2007, goaltender Carey Price made his NHL debut, leading the Canadiens to a 3–2 victory over the Pittsburgh Penguins.
On January 11, 2008, defenceman Andrei Markov was named to the All-Star Game starting roster.
On February 19, 2008, the Montreal Canadiens came back from a 0–5 deficit against the New York Rangers to win the game in a shootout 6–5. This marks the first time in the franchise's 99-year history that they have ever come back to win a game after going down 0–5. This game was compared to some of the greatest games in team history.
On March 1, 2008, the Montreal Canadiens took first place in the Eastern Conference for the first time since 1993 with a 2–1 win over the New Jersey Devils.
On March 22, 2008, the Montreal Canadiens won their 11th consecutive game against the Boston Bruins dating back to March 2007, besting their previous win streak over the Bruins of 10–0 from the 1956–57 NHL season.
Final standings

;Northeast Division
; Eastern Conference

Game log

Green background indicates win.
White background indicates overtime/shootout loss.
Red background indicates regulation loss.
October

Record: 6–2–3; Home: 2–1–2; Road: 4–1–1.

#	Date	Visitor	Score	Home	OT	Decision	Attendance	Record	Pts
1	October 3	Montreal	3–2	Carolina	OT	Huet	18,680	1–0–0	2
2	October 6	Montreal	3–4	Toronto	OT	Huet	19,476	1–0–1	3
3	October 10	Montreal	3–2	Pittsburgh		Price	17,006	2–0–1	5
4	October 13	Carolina	3–1	Montreal		Huet	21,273	2–1–1	5
5	October 16	Florida	2–1	Montreal	SO	Huet	21,273	2–1–2	6
6	October 18	Montreal	3–4	Ottawa		Price	20,019	2–2–2	6
7	October 20	Buffalo	2–4	Montreal		Huet	21,273	3–2–2	8
8	October 22	Boston	1–6	Montreal		Huet	21,273	4–2–2	10
9	October 26	Montreal	7–4	Carolina		Huet	16,796	5–2–2	12
10	October 27	Montreal	4–3	Pittsburgh	SO	Price	17,085	6–2–2	14
11	October 30	Atlanta	3–2	Montreal	SO	Price	21,273	6–2–3	15

November

Monthly record: 7–7–0; Home: 3–3–0; Road: 4–4–0.

Season record: 13–9–3; Home: 5–4–2; Road: 8–5–1.

#	Date	Visitor	Score	Home	OT	Decision	Attendance	Record	Pts
12	November 1	Philadelphia	2–5	Montreal		Huet	21,273	7–2–3	17
13	November 3	Toronto	3–2	Montreal		Huet	21,273	7–3–3	17
14	November 5	Buffalo	0–2	Montreal		Huet	21,273	8–3–3	19
15	November 8	Montreal	2–1	Boston		Price	15,183	9–3–3	21
16	November 10	Montreal	1–3	Ottawa		Huet	20,065	9–4–3	21
17	November 13	Montreal	4–3	Toronto	OT	Price	19,595	10–4–3	23
18	November 16	Montreal	1–4	Buffalo		Huet	18,690	10–5–3	23
19	November 17	Boston	4–7	Montreal		Price	21,273	11–5–3	25
20	November 19	Ottawa	4–2	Montreal		Huet	21,273	11–6–3	25
21	November 21	Montreal	4–1	NY Islanders		Huet	13,153	12–6–3	27
22	November 23	Montreal	2–4	Buffalo		Price	18,690	12–7–3	27
23	November 24	Buffalo	3–0	Montreal		Huet	21,273	12–8–3	27
24	November 27	Montreal	4–3	Toronto	SO	Price	19,608	13–8–3	29
25	November 30	Montreal	0–4	New Jersey		Price	15,081	13–9–3	29

Unsuccessful penalty shot for Roman Hamrlik vs Philadelphia Flyers on November 1, 2007.
December

Monthly record: 6–4–4; Home: 1–3–2; Road: 5–1–2.

Season record: 19–13–7; Home: 6–7–4; Road: 13–6–3.

#	Date	Visitor	Score	Home	OT	Decision	Attendance	Record	Pts
26	December 1	Nashville	5–4	Montreal	SO	Huet	21,273	13–9–4	30
27	December 4	Detroit	4–1	Montreal		Price	21,273	13–10–4	30
28	December 6	Montreal	4–2	Boston		Price	14,977	14–10–4	32
29	December 8	Carolina	5–1	Montreal		Price	21,273	14–11–4	32
30	December 11	Tampa Bay	3–2	Montreal	SO	Price	21,273	14–11–5	33
31	December 13	Montreal	4–1	Philadelphia		Price	19,322	15–11–5	35
32	December 15	Toronto	1–4	Montreal		Price	21,273	16–11–5	37
33	December 18	Florida	3–2	Montreal		Price	21,273	16–12–5	37
34	December 20	Montreal	5–2	Washington		Huet	12,670	17–12–5	39
35	December 22	Montreal	2–3	Atlanta	SO	Huet	17,153	17–12–6	40
36	December 23	Montreal	1–4	Dallas		Price	18,185	17–13–6	40
37	December 27	Montreal	5–2	Tampa Bay		Huet	20,294	18–13–6	42
38	December 28	Montreal	5–1	Florida		Huet	19,838	19–13–6	44
39	December 30	Montreal	3–4	NY Rangers	OT	Huet	18,200	19–13–7	45

January

Monthly record: 8–2–2; Home: 4–1–1; Road: 4–1–1.

Season record: 27–15–9; Home: 10–8–5; Road: 17–7–4.

#	Date	Visitor	Score	Home	OT	Decision	Attendance	Record	Pts
40	January 3	Tampa Bay Lightning	3–6	Montreal		Huet	21,273	20–13–7	47
41	January 5	Washington Capitals	5–4	Montreal	OT	Price	21,273	20–13–8	48
42	January 8	Chicago Blackhawks	3–4	Montreal	OT	Huet	21,273	21–13–8	50
43	January 10	Montreal	5–2	Boston Bruins		Huet	17,565	22–13–8	52
44	January 12	Montreal	1–4	New York Rangers		Huet	18,200	22–14–8	52
45	January 15	Montreal	3–1	New York Islanders		Huet	11,439	23–14–8	54
46	January 17	Montreal	3–2	Atlanta Thrashers	SO	Huet	16,181	24–14–8	56
47	January 19	Pittsburgh Penguins	2–0	Montreal		Huet	21,273	24–15–8	56
48	January 22	Boston Bruins	2–8	Montreal		Huet	21,273	25–15–8	58
49	January 24	Montreal	4–3	New Jersey Devils		Huet	14,257	26–15–8	60
50	January 29	Washington Capitals	0–4	Montreal		Huet	21,273	27–15–8	62
51	January 31	Montreal	4–5	Washington Capitals	OT	Huet	14,930	27–15–9	63

February

Monthly record: 8–6–0; Home: 5–4–0; Road: 3–2–0.

Season record: 35–21–9; Home: 15–12–5; Road: 20–9–4.

#	Date	Visitor	Score	Home	OT	Decision	Attendance	Record	Pts
52	February 2	New York Islanders	1–4	Montreal		Huet	21,273	28–15–9	65
53	February 3	New York Rangers	5–3	Montreal		Huet	21,273	28–16–9	65
54	February 5	Ottawa Senators	3–4	Montreal		Huet	21,273	29–16–9	67
55	February 7	Toronto Maple Leafs	4–2	Montreal		Price	21,273	29–17–9	67
56	February 9	Montreal	1–6	Ottawa Senators		Huet	20,292	29–18–9	67
57	February 12	Montreal	2–3	Tampa Bay Lightning		Huet	17,420	29–19–9	67
58	February 13	Montreal	2–1	Florida Panthers	OT	Price	17,100	30–19–9	69
59	February 16	Philadelphia Flyers	0–1	Montreal		Price	21,273	31–19–9	71
60	February 17	Montreal	5–3	Philadelphia Flyers		Price	19,611	32–19–9	73
61	February 19	New York Rangers	5–6	Montreal	SO	Huet	21,273	33–19–9	75
62	February 21	Pittsburgh Penguins	5–4	Montreal		Huet	21,273	33–20–9	75
63	February 23	Columbus Blue Jackets	3–0	Montreal		Price	21,273	33–21–9	75
64	February 26	Atlanta Thrashers	1–5	Montreal		Price	21,273	34–21–9	77
65	February 29	Montreal	6–2	Buffalo Sabres		Price	18,690	35–21–9	79

March

Monthly record: 9–4–1; Home: 5–1–1; Road: 4–3–0.

Season record: 44–25–10; Home: 20–13–6; Road: 24–12–4.

#	Date	Visitor	Score	Home	OT	Decision	Attendance	Record	Pts
66	March 1	New Jersey Devils	1–2	Montreal		Price	21,273	36–21–9	81
67	March 3	Montreal	4–6	San Jose Sharks		Price	17,496	36–22–9	81
68	March 6	Montreal	4–2	Phoenix Coyotes		Price	14,841	37–22–9	83
69	March 8	Montreal	5–2	Los Angeles Kings		Halak	18,118	38–22–9	85
70	March 9	Montreal	1–3	Anaheim Ducks		Price	17,174	38–23–9	85
71	March 11	New Jersey Devils	0–4	Montreal		Price	21,273	39–23–9	87
72	March 13	Ottawa Senators	3–0	Montreal		Price	21,273	39–24–9	87
73	March 15	New York Islanders	0–3	Montreal		Halak	21,273	40–24–9	89
74	March 18	St. Louis Blues	4–3	Montreal	SO	Halak	21,273	40–24–10	90
75	March 20	Montreal	4–2	Boston Bruins		Price	17,565	41–24–10	92
76	March 22	Boston Bruins	2–3	Montreal	SO	Price	21,273	42–24–10	94
77	March 24	Ottawa Senators	5–7	Montreal		Price	21,273	43–24–10	96
78	March 28	Montreal	4–3	Buffalo Sabres	OT	Price	18,690	44–24–10	98
79	March 29	Montreal	2–4	Toronto Maple Leafs		Halak	19,584	44–25–10	98

Unsuccessful penalty shot for Chris Higgins vs. Toronto Maple Leafs on March 29, 2008.
April

Monthly record: 3–0–0; Home: 2–0–0; Road: 1–0–0.

Season record: 47–25–10; Home: 22–13–6; Road: 25–12–4.

#	Date	Visitor	Score	Home	OT	Decision	Attendance	Record	Pts
80	April 1	Montreal	3–0	Ottawa Senators		Price	20,236	45–25–10	100
81	April 3	Buffalo Sabres	1–3	Montreal		Price	21,273	46–25–10	102
82	April 5	Toronto Maple Leafs	1–3	Montreal		Price	21,273	47–25–10	104

Playoffs

The Montreal Canadiens clinched a playoff spot following a 7–5 victory against the Ottawa Senators on March 24, 2008, their 77th game of the season. They were the first team in the East to clinch a spot in the playoffs, won the Northeast Division and finished first in the Eastern Conference with 104 points, their highest total since the 1988–89 season.

Eastern Conference Quarter-finals: vs. (8) [Boston Bruins]

The Montreal Canadiens earned the top seed in the Eastern Conference by virtue of finishing with the highest point total in the conference. Some rioting occurred in downtown Montreal after the Canadiens defeated the Boston Bruins in the seventh game of the quarter-finals and advanced to play in the semi-finals.

Eastern Conference Semi-finals: vs. (6) [Philadelphia Flyers]

* Player scoring winning goal is shown in italics.

Roster

Player statistics

Regular season

Skaters

Player	GP	G	A	Pts	+/-	PIM
Alexei Kovalev	82	35	49	84	18	70
Tomas Plekanec	81	29	40	69	15	42
Mark Streit	81	13	49	62	−6	28
Andrei Markov	82	16	42	58	1	63
Saku Koivu	77	16	40	56	−4	93
Andrei Kostitsyn	78	26	27	53	15	28
Chris Higgins	81	27	25	52	0	20
Michael Ryder	70	14	17	31	−4	30
Guillaume Latendresse	73	16	11	27	−2	41
Sergei Kostitsyn	52	9	18	27	9	51
Roman Hamrlik	77	5	21	26	7	38
Bryan Smolinski	64	8	17	25	−8	20
Maxim Lapierre	53	7	10	17	3	60
Michael Komisarek	75	4	13	17	9	101
Mathieu Dandenault	61	9	5	14	−11	34
Tom Kostopoulos	66	7	6	13	−3	113
Kyle Chipchura	36	4	7	11	−1	10
Patrice Brisebois	43	3	8	11	−2	26
Mikhail Grabovski	24	3	6	9	−4	8
Josh Gorges	63	0	9	9	0	32
Steve Begin	44	3	5	8	0	48
Francis Bouillon	74	2	6	8	9	61
Ryan O'Byrne	33	1	6	7	7	45
Carey Price	41	0	2	2	0	0
Cristobal Huet	39	0	1	1	0	0
Gregory Stewart	1	0	0	0	0	5
Matt D'Agostini	1	0	0	0	0	2
Corey Locke	1	0	0	0	−1	0
Garth Murray	1	0	0	0	0	0

One winning goal in SO for Andrei Markov on October 27, 2007, vs Pittsburgh Penguins.
Tom Kostopoulos was suspended for one game on November 19, 2007, vs Ottawa Senators for a fight in the last 5 minutes of the previous game vs Boston Bruins.
Two winning goals in SO for Andrei Kostitsyn on November 27, 2007, vs Toronto Maple Leafs and on January 17, 2008, vs Atlanta Thrashers. On January 31, 2008, vs Washington Capitals, his brother Sergei and him became the first brothers to score a goal each in the same game with the Montreal Canadiens uniform since Peter and Frank Mahovlich in March 1974.
Corey Locke was on the official lineup on December 30, 2007, vs New York Rangers but did not play.
One penalty shot goal for Sergei Kostitsyn on February 3, 2008, vs New York Rangers.
One winning goal in SO for Saku Koivu on February 19, 2008, vs New York Rangers.
One winning goal in SO for Saku Koivu on March 22, 2008, vs Boston Bruins.
Goaltenders

Player	GP	TOI	W	L	OT	GA	SO	Sv%	SA	GAA
Carey Price	41	2414	24	12	3	103	3	.920	1282	2.56
Jaroslav Halak	6	285	2	1	1	10	1	.934	151	2.11
Cristobal Huet	39	2277	21	12	6	97	2	.916	1150	2.55
Combined	82	4976	47	25	10	210*	6	.919	2583	2.53

''*The team has also allowed 6 game losing shootout goals and 6 empty net goals. These goals do not count towards a goalie's personal statistics.

Playoffs

Skaters

Player	GP	G	A	Pts	+/-	PIM
Alexei Kovalev	12	5	6	11	−4	8
Tomas Plekanec	12	4	5	9	−1	2
Saku Koivu	7	3	6	9	1	4
Andrei Kostitsyn	12	5	3	8	−4	2
Sergei Kostitsyn	12	3	5	8	5	14
Patrice Brisebois	10	1	5	6	−3	6
Chris Higgins	12	3	2	5	1	2
Tom Kostopoulos	12	3	1	4	−1	6
Mark Streit	11	1	3	4	−1	8
Andrei Markov	12	1	3	4	0	8
Mike Komisarek	12	1	2	3	3	18
Bryan Smolinski	12	1	2	3	1	2
Francis Bouillon	7	1	2	3	0	4
Roman Hamrlik	12	1	2	3	−3	8
Steve Begin	12	0	3	3	1	8
Josh Gorges	12	0	3	3	−2	0
Maxim Lapierre	12	0	3	3	−5	6
Guillaume Latendresse	8	0	1	1	−5	19
Michael Ryder	4	0	0	0	1	2
Ryan O'Byrne	4	0	0	0	−2	0
Mathieu Dandenault	9	0	0	0	−3	2
Carey Price	11	0	0	0	0	2
Jaroslav Halak	2	0	0	0	0	0

One unsuccessfully penalty shot goal for Andrei Kostitsyn on April 24, 2008, vs Philadelphia Flyers.
Goaltenders

Player	GP	TOI	W	L	GA	SO	Sv%	SA	GAA
Carey Price	11	648	5	6	30	2	.901	305	2.78
Jaroslav Halak	2	76	0	0	3	0	.889	28	2.34
COMBINED	12	724	5	7	33	2	.900	333	2.70

''*The team has also allowed 2 empty net goals. These goals do not count towards a goalie's personal statistics.

Awards and records

Awards

Team awards

On April 5, following the final home game against the Toronto Maple Leafs, the team announced its award winners for the season.

Player	Award	Notes
Alexei Kovalev	Molson Cup	Awarded to the Most Valuable Player and with the most "three stars" recognitions.
Mark Streit	Jacques Beauchamp Trophy	Awarded by the Sports Writers Association of Montreal to a player for recognition of his outstanding achievement in the game of hockey.

National Hockey League awards

Andrei Markov: All-Star starting defenceman
Records
February 19 win against the New York Rangers was the largest comeback in franchise history after being down 0–5.
Milestones

Transactions

The Canadiens have been involved in the following transactions during the 2007–08 season.

Trades

Free agents

Free agent acquisitions

Players lost to free agency

Draft picks

Montreal's picks at the 2007 NHL Entry Draft in Columbus, Ohio.

Round	#	Player	Position	Nationality	College/junior/club team
1	12	Ryan McDonagh	Defence	United States	Cretin-Derham Hall
1	22	Max Pacioretty	Left wing	United States	Sioux City Musketeers
2	43	P. K. Subban	Defence	Canada	Belleville Bulls
3	65	Olivier Fortier	Centre	Canada	Rimouski Océanic
3	73	Yannick Weber	Defence	Switzerland	Kitchener Rangers
5	133	Joe Stejskal	Defence	United States	Grand Rapids High School
5	142	Andrew Conboy	Left wing	United States	Omaha Lancers
6	163	Nichlas Torp	Defence	Sweden	HV71
7	192	Scott Kishel	Defence	United States	Virginia High School

Farm teams

Hamilton Bulldogs

The Hamilton Bulldogs remain Montreal's top affiliate in the American Hockey League in 2007–08.

Cincinnati Cyclones

Montreal has a joint affiliation with the Nashville Predators for the Cincinnati Cyclones of the ECHL in 2007–08.

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2007–08 Montreal Canadiens season

Offseason events

Regular season

Highlights

Final standings

Game log

October

November

December

January

February

March

April

Playoffs

Eastern Conference Quarter-finals: vs. (8) [Boston Bruins]

Eastern Conference Semi-finals: vs. (6) [Philadelphia Flyers]

Roster

Player statistics

Regular season

Skaters

Goaltenders

Playoffs

Skaters

Goaltenders

Awards and records

Awards

Team awards

National Hockey League awards

Records

Milestones

Transactions

Trades

Free agents

Free agent acquisitions

Players lost to free agency

Draft picks

Farm teams

Hamilton Bulldogs

Cincinnati Cyclones