Montreal Canadiens On Pace To Dominate NHL Awards

Jennings Trophy – Carey Price and Al Montoya

The Jennings Trophy is awarded to the goaltenders of the team that allows the least number of goals. The Canadiens aren’t in the lead right now, but have one outlier of a game that is affecting their standing in the goals against category right now.

In 24 games, the Habs have allowed 52 goals. We all remember the 10-0 drubbing at the hands of the Columbus Blue Jackets. No teams are allowed to throw out their worst performance like a high school student who can drop their worst exam.

However, the Canadiens 10 goals against in one night stands out like a crushed thumb when compared to the rest of their schedule. In their other 23 games, the Habs have allowed just 42 goals. That’s just 1.83 goals against per game. If you include every game (which the NHL will) they allow 2.26 goals per game.

I just point this out to show the team is much closer to a 1.83 goal-against per game than 2.26. The team with the best goals-against per game is the San Jose Sharks at 2.04. Over an 82 game schedule, the 10-0 game will haunt the Habs less and less in this category, and they should be able to keep pucks out of their net better than any other team.