1987–88 Montreal Canadiens season

1987–88 Montreal Canadiens
Adams Division Champions
Division 1st Adams
1987–88 record 45-22-13
Goals for 298
Goals against 238
Team information
General Manager Serge Savard
Coach Jean Perron
Captain Bob Gainey
Alternate captains Mats Naslund
Larry Robinson
Arena Montreal Forum
Team leaders
Goals Stephane Richer (50)
Assists Bobby Smith (66)
Points Bobby Smith (93)
Penalties in minutes Chris Nilan (209)
Plus/minus Petr Svoboda (+46)
Wins Patrick Roy (23)
Goals against average Brian Hayward (2.86)
<1986–87 1988–89>

The 1987–88 Montreal Canadiens season was the team's 79th season. The club qualified for the playoffs, defeated the Hartford Whalers in the first round, but were eliminated in the Adams Division finals versus the Boston Bruins four games to one.

Contents

Offseason

NHL Draft

Regular season

Final standings

Adams Division
GP W L T GF GA Pts
Montreal Canadiens 80 45 22 13 298 238 103
Boston Bruins 80 44 30 6 300 251 94
Buffalo Sabres 80 37 32 11 283 305 85
Hartford Whalers 80 35 38 7 249 267 77
Quebec Nordiques 80 32 43 5 271 306 69

[3]Note: GP = Games played, W = Wins, L = Losses, T = Ties, Pts = Points, GF = Goals for, GA = Goals against

Note: Teams that qualified for the playoffs are highlighted in bold.

Game log

# R Date Score Opponent Record
1 T Oct 8, 1987 2–2 OT @ Philadelphia Flyers 0–0–1
2 W Oct 10, 1987 6–3 Buffalo Sabres 1–0–1
3 L Oct 12, 1987 2–5 Quebec Nordiques 1–1–1
4 L Oct 16, 1987 3–4 @ New Jersey Devils 1–2–1
5 W Oct 17, 1987 3–2 Pittsburgh Penguins 2–2–1
6 W Oct 19, 1987 5–1 Minnesota North Stars 3–2–1
7 W Oct 21, 1987 10–3 @ Toronto Maple Leafs 4–2–1
8 L Oct 23, 1987 3–5 @ Buffalo Sabres 4–3–1
9 W Oct 24, 1987 3–2 @ Washington Capitals 5–3–1
10 L Oct 26, 1987 3–5 Calgary Flames 5–4–1
11 W Oct 28, 1987 3–1 Edmonton Oilers 6–4–1
12 W Oct 30, 1987 5–4 @ Detroit Red Wings 7–4–1
13 T Oct 31, 1987 3–3 OT Boston Bruins 7–4–2
14 W Nov 2, 1987 6–4 St. Louis Blues 8–4–2
15 T Nov 4, 1987 4–4 OT @ Chicago Blackhawks 8–4–3
16 W Nov 7, 1987 5–4 Philadelphia Flyers 9–4–3
17 W Nov 9, 1987 3–1 Toronto Maple Leafs 10–4–3
18 T Nov 11, 1987 0–0 OT @ Hartford Whalers 10–4–4
19 L Nov 12, 1987 2–3 @ Boston Bruins 10–5–4
20 W Nov 14, 1987 3–0 Chicago Blackhawks 11–5–4
21 T Nov 16, 1987 3–3 OT Hartford Whalers 11–5–5
22 W Nov 18, 1987 5–2 New York Islanders 12–5–5
23 W Nov 21, 1987 2–1 New Jersey Devils 13–5–5
24 L Nov 23, 1987 3–4 OT @ Quebec Nordiques 13–6–5
25 W Nov 25, 1987 6–5 @ Hartford Whalers 14–6–5
26 L Nov 27, 1987 2–4 @ Minnesota North Stars 14–7–5
27 W Nov 28, 1987 7–3 @ Winnipeg Jets 15–7–5
28 W Nov 30, 1987 6–4 Boston Bruins 16–7–5
29 T Dec 2, 1987 3–3 OT Vancouver Canucks 16–7–6
30 W Dec 5, 1987 6–4 Los Angeles Kings 17–7–6
31 W Dec 8, 1987 3–2 @ New York Islanders 18–7–6
32 T Dec 9, 1987 2–2 OT @ New York Rangers 18–7–7
33 W Dec 12, 1987 5–3 Detroit Red Wings 19–7–7
34 W Dec 16, 1987 5–4 Quebec Nordiques 20–7–7
35 T Dec 18, 1987 2–2 OT @ Buffalo Sabres 20–7–8
36 L Dec 19, 1987 1–2 Buffalo Sabres 20–8–8
37 T Dec 23, 1987 2–2 OT Washington Capitals 20–8–9
38 W Dec 26, 1987 4–2 @ Toronto Maple Leafs 21–8–9
39 L Dec 28, 1987 3–9 @ Calgary Flames 21–9–9
40 W Dec 29, 1987 4–1 @ Vancouver Canucks 22–9–9
41 L Jan 2, 1988 2–5 @ Los Angeles Kings 22–10–9
42 L Jan 6, 1988 5–6 Buffalo Sabres 22–11–9
43 T Jan 9, 1988 3–3 OT Philadelphia Flyers 22–11–10
44 W Jan 13, 1988 5–4 Boston Bruins 23–11–10
45 L Jan 14, 1988 2–3 @ Boston Bruins 23–12–10
46 W Jan 16, 1988 4–3 New York Rangers 24–12–10
47 W Jan 18, 1988 6–4 Edmonton Oilers 25–12–10
48 L Jan 21, 1988 1–4 St. Louis Blues 25–13–10
49 L Jan 23, 1988 3–4 OT Pittsburgh Penguins 25–14–10
50 W Jan 24, 1988 5–3 @ Quebec Nordiques 26–14–10
51 W Jan 27, 1988 4–1 @ Buffalo Sabres 27–14–10
52 L Jan 29, 1988 3–4 @ Washington Capitals 27–15–10
53 W Jan 30, 1988 6–2 @ New York Islanders 28–15–10
54 W Feb 1, 1988 5–4 Hartford Whalers 29–15–10
55 W Feb 3, 1988 5–2 @ Hartford Whalers 30–15–10
56 L Feb 4, 1988 3–7 @ Boston Bruins 30–16–10
57 L Feb 6, 1988 4–5 Detroit Red Wings 30–17–10
58 L Feb 11, 1988 2–4 @ New Jersey Devils 30–18–10
59 L Feb 13, 1988 1–4 Hartford Whalers 30–19–10
60 L Feb 15, 1988 1–3 @ New York Rangers 30–20–10
61 W Feb 17, 1988 3–2 Boston Bruins 31–20–10
62 W Feb 20, 1988 5–3 Quebec Nordiques 32–20–10
63 W Feb 23, 1988 3–1 @ Quebec Nordiques 33–20–10
64 W Feb 24, 1988 5–4 Vancouver Canucks 34–20–10
65 W Feb 27, 1988 6–0 Winnipeg Jets 35–20–10
66 W Feb 29, 1988 2–1 @ Quebec Nordiques 36–20–10
67 W Mar 3, 1988 4–2 @ St. Louis Blues 37–20–10
68 W Mar 5, 1988 7–6 OT @ Los Angeles Kings 38–20–10
69 W Mar 9, 1988 4–1 @ Edmonton Oilers 39–20–10
70 W Mar 12, 1988 5–0 Hartford Whalers 40–20–10
71 T Mar 14, 1988 2–2 OT @ Minnesota North Stars 40–20–11
72 W Mar 16, 1988 4–1 @ Winnipeg Jets 41–20–11
73 W Mar 19, 1988 3–0 Chicago Blackhawks 42–20–11
74 T Mar 21, 1988 3–3 OT Calgary Flames 42–20–12
75 W Mar 23, 1988 4–1 Quebec Nordiques 43–20–12
76 L Mar 25, 1988 2–5 @ Pittsburgh Penguins 43–21–12
77 L Mar 27, 1988 2–4 @ Hartford Whalers 43–22–12
78 W Mar 31, 1988 3–1 @ Boston Bruins 44–22–12
79 W Apr 2, 1988 9–4 Buffalo Sabres 45–22–12
80 T Apr 3, 1988 4–4 OT @ Buffalo Sabres 45–22–13

Playoffs

Adams Division semi-finals

Hartford Whalers vs. Montreal Canadiens

The Habs almost squandered a 3–0 series lead. The deep Habs roster was the best team in the Wales Conference during the season, consisting of six 20–goal scorers and another six with between 10 and 20 goals. Their best assets were goaltenders Patrick Roy and backup Brian Hayward who won 23 and 22 games respectively. The Ron Francis-led Whalers went 2–4–2 against the Canadiens during the season, twice losing by just one goal.

Date Away Score Home Score Notes
April 6 Hartford 3 Montreal 4
April 7 Hartford 3 Montreal 7
April 9 Montreal 4 Hartford 3
April 10 Montreal 5 Hartford 7
April 12 Hartford 5 Montreal 3
April 14 Montreal 4 Hartford 2

Montreal wins best-of-seven series 4–2

Adams Division finals

Boston Bruins vs. Montreal Canadiens

The Wales Conference's two best teams, and the NHL's two best defensive teams, met in this series with equal rest time. The Habs had beaten Boston in the Adams Division Semi-Finals four years in a row, sweeping the Bruins in three of the past four seasons, and beating them 3–2 in a best-of-five the other year. This time, the Bruins' defence would wear down Montreal, as Ken Linseman, Ray Bourque and Cam Neely provided the offence to finally conquer the Canadiens. It was the first Bruins' playoff series win over the Habs in 44 seasons.

Date Away Score Home Score Notes
April 18 Boston 1 Montreal 5
April 20 Boston 4 Montreal 3
April 22 Montreal 1 Boston 3
April 24 Montreal 0 Boston 2
April 26 Boston 4 Montreal 1

Boston wins best-of-seven series 4–1

Player stats

Regular season

Scoring
Player Pos GP G A Pts PIM +/- PPG SHG GWG
Smith, BobbyBobby Smith C 78 27 66 93 78 13 8 0 4
Naslund, MatsMats Naslund LW 78 24 59 83 14 17 4 0 2
Richer, StephaneStephane Richer RW 72 50 28 78 72 12 16 0 11
Lemieux, ClaudeClaude Lemieux RW 78 31 30 61 137 16 6 0 3
Chelios, ChrisChris Chelios D 71 20 41 61 172 14 10 1 5
McPhee, MikeMike McPhee LW 77 23 20 43 53 19 0 2 4
Robinson, LarryLarry Robinson D 53 6 34 40 30 26 2 0 1
Corson, ShayneShayne Corson LW 71 12 27 39 152 22 2 0 2
Carbonneau, GuyGuy Carbonneau C 80 17 21 38 61 14 0 3 1
Walter, RyanRyan Walter C/LW 61 13 23 36 39 12 6 0 3
Skrudland, BrianBrian Skrudland C 79 12 24 36 112 14 0 1 3
Svoboda, PetrPetr Svoboda D 69 7 22 29 149 46 2 0 1
Dahlin, KjellKjell Dahlin RW 48 13 12 25 6 5 2 0 2
Gainey, BobBob Gainey LW 78 11 11 22 14 8 0 0 1
Momesso, SergioSergio Momesso LW 53 7 14 21 101 9 1 0 0
Ludwig, CraigCraig Ludwig D 74 4 10 14 69 17 0 0 0
Green, RickRick Green D 59 2 11 13 33 21 1 0 0
Nilan, ChrisChris Nilan RW 50 7 5 12 209 -2 0 0 1
Thibaudeau, GillesGilles Thibaudeau C 17 5 6 11 0 6 2 0 1
Lalor, MikeMike Lalor D 66 1 10 11 113 4 0 0 0
Kordic, JohnJohn Kordic RW 60 2 6 8 159 0 0 0 0
Trader, LarryLarry Trader D 30 2 4 6 19 2 1 0 0
Boisvert, SergeSerge Boisvert RW 5 1 1 2 2 0 0 0 0
Charbonneau, JoseJose Charbonneau RW 16 0 2 2 6 1 0 0 0
Hayward, BrianBrian Hayward G 39 0 2 2 24 0 0 0 0
Roy, PatrickPatrick Roy G 45 0 2 2 14 0 0 0 0
Ganchar, PerryPerry Ganchar RW 1 1 0 1 0 -1 0 0 0
Gingras, GastonGaston Gingras D 2 0 1 1 2 1 0 0 0
Sandelin, ScottScott Sandelin D 8 0 1 1 2 0 0 0 0
Riendeau, VincentVincent Riendeau G 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Schneider, MathieuMathieu Schneider D 4 0 0 0 2 -1 0 0 0
Goaltending
Player MIN GP W L T GA GAA SO SA SV SV%
Roy, PatrickPatrick Roy 2586 45 23 12 9 125 2.90 3 1248 1123 .900
Hayward, BrianBrian Hayward 2247 39 22 10 4 107 2.86 2 1032 925 .896
Riendeau, VincentVincent Riendeau 36 1 0 0 0 5 8.33 0 22 17 .773
Team: 4869 80 45 22 13 237 2.92 5 2302 2065 .897

Playoffs

Scoring
Player Pos GP G A Pts PIM PPG SHG GWG
Richer, StephaneStephane Richer RW 8 7 5 12 6 1 0 2
McPhee, MikeMike McPhee LW 11 4 3 7 8 0 1 0
Smith, BobbyBobby Smith C 11 3 4 7 8 1 0 0
Naslund, MatsMats Naslund LW 6 0 7 7 2 0 0 0
Thibaudeau, GillesGilles Thibaudeau C 8 3 3 6 2 1 0 0
Dahlin, KjellKjell Dahlin RW 11 2 4 6 2 0 0 0
Walter, RyanRyan Walter C/LW 11 2 4 6 6 2 0 1
Skrudland, BrianBrian Skrudland C 11 1 5 6 24 0 0 0
Lemieux, ClaudeClaude Lemieux RW 11 3 2 5 20 0 0 2
Robinson, LarryLarry Robinson D 11 1 4 5 4 0 0 0
Svoboda, PetrPetr Svoboda D 10 0 5 5 12 0 0 0
Chelios, ChrisChris Chelios D 11 3 1 4 29 1 0 0
Kordic, JohnJohn Kordic RW 7 2 2 4 26 0 0 0
Carbonneau, GuyGuy Carbonneau C 11 0 4 4 2 0 0 0
Ludwig, CraigCraig Ludwig D 11 1 1 2 6 0 0 0
Green, RickRick Green D 11 0 2 2 2 0 0 0
Momesso, SergioSergio Momesso LW 6 0 2 2 16 0 0 0
Corson, ShayneShayne Corson LW 3 1 0 1 12 0 0 0
Boisvert, SergeSerge Boisvert RW 3 0 1 1 2 0 0 0
Gainey, BobBob Gainey LW 6 0 1 1 6 0 0 0
Charbonneau, JoseJose Charbonneau RW 8 0 0 0 4 0 0 0
Fletcher, StevenSteven Fletcher LW/D 1 0 0 0 5 0 0 0
Hayward, BrianBrian Hayward G 4 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Lalor, MikeMike Lalor D 11 0 0 0 11 0 0 0
Roy, PatrickPatrick Roy G 8 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Goaltending
Player MIN GP W L GA GAA SO SA SV SV%
Roy, PatrickPatrick Roy 430 8 3 4 24 3.35 0 218 194 .890
Hayward, BrianBrian Hayward 230 4 2 2 9 2.35 0 85 76 .894
Team: 660 11 5 6 33 3.00 0 303 270 .891

[4]

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

Roster

Draft picks

For more details on this topic, see 1987 NHL Entry Draft.

Farm teams

See also

References

  1. ^ Gretzky to Lemieux: The Story of the 1987 Canada Cup, p.8, Ed Willies, McLelland and Stewart, Toronto, Canada, 2007, ISBN 978-0-7710-8942-8
  2. ^ Gretzky to Lemieux: The Story of the 1987 Canada Cup, p.4, Ed Willies, McLelland and Stewart, Toronto, Canada, 2007, ISBN 978-0-7710-8942-8
  3. ^ Dinger, Ralph, ed (2011). The National Hockey League Official Guide & Record Book 2012. Dan Diamond & Associates. p. 153. ISBN 9781894801225. 
  4. ^ "1987-88 Montreal Canadiens Statistics - Hockey-Reference.com". hockey-reference.com. http://www.hockey-reference.com/teams/MTL/1988.html. Retrieved 2009-05-28. 
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