1978–79 Montreal Canadiens season

1978–79 Montreal Canadiens
Stanley Cup Champions
Prince of Wales Conference Champions
Norris Division Champions
Division	1st Norris
Conference	1st Prince of Wales
1978–79 record	52–17–11
Goals for	337
Goals against	204
Team information
General Manager	Irving Grundman
Coach	Scotty Bowman
Captain	Yvan Cournoyer
Alternate captains	None
Arena	Montreal Forum
Team leaders
Goals	Guy Lafleur (52)
Assists	Guy Lafleur (77)
Points	Guy Lafleur (129)
Penalties in minutes	Gilles Lupien (124)
Wins	Ken Dryden (30)
Goals against average	Ken Dryden (2.30)
<1977–78	1979–80>

The 1978–79 Montreal Canadiens season was the club's 70th season. The franchise won 52 games and had 11 ties, but finished second overall in the league. The New York Islanders finished first overall by one point over the Canadiens. ^[1] The Canadiens won the Stanley Cup for the fourth consecutive time, the fifteenth time in the past twenty-four seasons, and their twenty-second overall. The Canadiens would win the Stanley Cup on home ice for the first time since 1968.^[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.

Game log

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

^[4]

Playoffs

Stanley Cup Final

New York Rangers vs. Montreal Canadiens

Date	Visitors	Score	Home	Score	Notes
May 13	New York	4	Montreal	1
May 15	New York	2	Montreal	6
May 17	Montreal	4	New York	1
May 19	Montreal	4	New York	3	OT
May 21	New York	1	Montreal	4

Montreal wins the series 4–1.

Player stats

Regular season

Scoring

Player	Pos	GP	G	A	Pts	PIM	+/-	PPG	SHG	GWG
Lafleur, GuyGuy Lafleur	RW	80	52	77	129	28	56	13	0	12
Shutt, SteveSteve Shutt	LW	72	37	40	77	31	37	10	0	6
Mondou, PierrePierre Mondou	C	77	31	41	72	26	59	6	1	7
Lambert, YvonYvon Lambert	LW	79	26	40	66	26	30	5	1	7
Robinson, LarryLarry Robinson	D	67	16	45	61	33	50	4	0	1
Tremblay, MarioMario Tremblay	RW	76	30	29	59	74	23	3	0	4
Lemaire, JacquesJacques Lemaire	C	50	24	31	55	10	9	6	1	4
Lapointe, GuyGuy Lapointe	D	69	13	42	55	43	27	6	0	1
Houle, RejeanRejean Houle	W	66	17	34	51	43	16	6	0	4
Gainey, BobBob Gainey	LW	79	20	18	38	44	11	1	1	1
Savard, SergeSerge Savard	D	80	7	26	33	30	46	1	2	0
Napier, MarkMark Napier	RW	54	11	20	31	11	17	2	0	0
Risebrough, DougDoug Risebrough	C	48	10	15	25	62	22	0	0	2
Jarvis, DougDoug Jarvis	C	80	10	13	23	16	5	0	1	1
Larouche, PierrePierre Larouche	C	36	9	13	22	4	3	4	0	0
Hughes, PatPat Hughes	RW	41	9	8	17	22	7	1	0	1
Chartraw, RickRick Chartraw	D/RW	62	5	11	16	29	14	0	0	1
Engblom, BrianBrian Engblom	D	62	3	11	14	60	21	0	0	0
Lupien, GillesGilles Lupien	D	72	1	9	10	124	33	0	0	0
Langway, RodRod Langway	D	45	3	4	7	30	5	0	0	0
Cournoyer, YvanYvan Cournoyer	RW	15	2	5	7	2	5	0	0	0
Connor, CamCam Connor	RW	23	1	3	4	39	2	0	0	0
Dryden, KenKen Dryden	G	47	0	3	3	4	0	0	0	0
Larocque, MichelMichel Larocque	G	34	0	3	3	2	0	0	0	0
Newman, DanDan Newman	LW	16	0	2	2	4	-1	0	0	0
Lumley, DaveDave Lumley	RW	3	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0

Goaltending

Player	MIN	GP	W	L	T	GA	GAA	SO
Dryden, KenKen Dryden	2814	47	30	10	7	108	2.30	5
Larocque, MichelMichel 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
Lemaire, JacquesJacques Lemaire	C	16	11	12	23	6	6	0	2
Lafleur, GuyGuy Lafleur	RW	16	10	13	23	0	2	0	2
Gainey, BobBob Gainey	LW	16	6	10	16	10	0	0	1
Robinson, LarryLarry Robinson	D	16	6	9	15	8	1	0	1
Lambert, YvonYvon Lambert	LW	16	5	6	11	16	2	0	1
Shutt, SteveSteve Shutt	LW	11	4	7	11	6	1	0	0
Mondou, PierrePierre Mondou	C	16	3	6	9	4	1	0	0
Savard, SergeSerge Savard	D	16	2	7	9	6	1	0	1
Lapointe, GuyGuy Lapointe	D	10	2	6	8	10	1	0	0
Tremblay, MarioMario Tremblay	RW	13	3	4	7	13	0	0	1
Risebrough, DougDoug Risebrough	C	15	1	6	7	32	0	0	1
Houle, RejeanRejean Houle	W	7	1	5	6	2	0	0	0
Napier, MarkMark Napier	RW	12	3	2	5	2	0	0	0
Jarvis, DougDoug Jarvis	C	12	1	3	4	4	0	0	0
Larouche, PierrePierre Larouche	C	6	1	3	4	0	0	0	1
Chartraw, RickRick Chartraw	D/RW	16	2	1	3	24	0	0	0
Hughes, PatPat Hughes	RW	8	1	2	3	4	0	0	0
Dryden, KenKen Dryden	G	16	0	3	3	2	0	0	0
Connor, CamCam Connor	RW	8	1	0	1	0	0	0	1
Engblom, BrianBrian Engblom	D	16	0	1	1	11	0	0	0
Langway, RodRod Langway	D	8	0	0	0	16	0	0	0
Larocque, MichelMichel Larocque	G	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Lupien, GillesGilles Lupien	D	13	0	0	0	2	0	0	0

Goaltending

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

^[5]

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;

1979 Montreal Canadiens Stanley Cup Champions

Ken Dryden, Serge Savard, Guy Lapointe, Larry Robinson, Gilles Lupien, Rick Chartraw, Brian Engblom, Guy Lafleur, Steve Shutt, Pierre Larouche, Yvan Cournoyer, Jacques Lemaire, Yvon Lambert, Bob Gainey, Doug Jarvis, Doug Risebrough, Murray Wilson, Mario Tremblay, Rejean Houle, Pierre Mondou, Cam Connor, Pat Hughes, Mark Napier, Michel Larocque, Richard Sevigny, Scotty Bowman(coach), Irving Grundman(managing director), Eddy Palchak, Pierre Meilleur (trainers)

Awards and records

• Prince of Wales Trophy
• Ken Dryden and Michel Larocque, Vezina Trophy
• Bob Gainey, Conn Smythe Trophy
• Bob Gainey, Selke Trophy
• Guy Lafleur, Runner-Up, Hart Trophy^[6]
• Serge Savard, Bill Masterton Memorial Trophy^[6]

Transactions

Draft picks

See also

• 1978–79 NHL season
• 1979 Stanley Cup Final

References

• Canadiens on Hockey Database
• Canadiens on NHL Reference

1. ^ 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. ^ The Montreal Canadiens:100 Years of Glory, D’Arcy Jenish, p.234, Published in Canada by Doubleday, 2009, ISBN 978-0-385-66325-0
3. ^ National Hockey League Official Guide and Record Book 2006, p. 163, Dan Diamond & Associates, Toronto, Ontario, ISBN 0-920445-98-5
4. ^ "1978–79 Montreal Canadiens Games". Hockey-reference.com. http://www.hockey-reference.com/teams/MTL/1979_games.html. Retrieved 2009-07-14. 
5. ^ "1978-79 Montreal Canadiens Statistics - Hockey-Reference.com". hockey-reference.com. http://www.hockey-reference.com/teams/MTL/1979.html. Retrieved 2009-05-28. 
6. ^ ^{a b} 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 1978

New York Islanders Stanley Cup Champions 1979

Succeeded by New York Islanders 1980

Montreal Canadiens seasons 1900s 1900–01 • 1901–02 • 1902–03 • 1903–04 • 1904–05 • 1905–06 • 1906–07 • 1907–08 • 1908–09 • 1909–10 1910s 1910–11 • 1911–12 • 1912–13 • 1913–14 • 1914–15 • 1915–16 • 1916–17 • 1917–18 • 1918–19 • 1919–20 1920s 1920–21 • 1921–22 • 1922–23 • 1923–24 • 1924–25 • 1925–26 • 1926–27 • 1927–28 • 1928–29 • 1929–30 1930s 1930–31 • 1931–32 • 1932–33 • 1933–34 • 1934–35 • 1935–36 • 1936–37 • 1937–38 • 1938–39 • 1939–40 1940s 1940–41 • 1941–42 • 1942–43 • 1943–44 • 1944–45 • 1945–46 • 1946–47 • 1947–48 • 1948–49 • 1949–50 1950s 1950–51 • 1951–52 • 1952–53 • 1953–54 • 1954–55 • 1955–56 • 1956–57 • 1957–58 • 1958–59 • 1959–60 1960s 1960–61 • 1961–62 • 1962–63 • 1963–64 • 1964–65 • 1965–66 • 1966–67 • 1967–68 • 1968–69 • 1969–70 1970s 1970–71 • 1971–72 • 1972–73 • 1973–74 • 1974–75 • 1975–76 • 1976–77 • 1977–78 • 1978–79 • 1979–80 1980s 1980–81 • 1981–82 • 1982–83 • 1983–84 • 1984–85 • 1985–86 • 1986–87 • 1987–88 • 1988–89 • 1989–90 1990s 1990–91 • 1991–92 • 1992–93 • 1993–94 • 1994–95 • 1995–96 • 1996–97 • 1997–98 • 1998–99 • 1999–00 2000s 2000–01 • 2001–02 • 2002–03 • 2003–04 • 2004–05 • 2005–06 • 2006–07 • 2007–08 • 2008–09 • 2009–10 2010s 2010–11 • 2011–12 Highlighted seasons indicate Stanley Cup championship

Montreal Canadiens Franchise Franchise • History (Original Six • Centennial) • Players • Coaches • General managers • Seasons • Records • Draft picks • Award winners Culture and lore Youppi • The Punch Line • Richard Riot • 1938 European tour Arenas Jubilee Arena • Montreal Arena • Mount Royal Arena • Montreal Forum • Bell Centre • Bell Sports Complex (practice) Affiliates Hamilton Bulldogs (AHL) • Wheeling Nailers (ECHL) Television SRC • RDS Radio English TSN Radio 990 French 98,5 FM Rivalries Boston Bruins • Quebec Nordiques • Toronto Maple Leafs

1978–79 NHL season by team Patrick Atlanta • NY Islanders • NY Rangers • Philadelphia Adams Boston • Buffalo • Minnesota • Toronto Norris Detroit • Los Angeles • Montreal • Pittsburgh • Washington Smythe Chicago • Colorado • St. Louis • Vancouver See also 1978 NHL Amateur Draft • 1979 Challenge Cup • 1979 Stanley Cup Finals • Transactions