Canadiens: Looking Back at Their Last Playoff Series

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The Montreal Canadiens were on their way to their third consecutive spring without playoff hockey. With the league on hiatus, let’s take a look back at the last time the Habs did play a playoff series.

The Montreal Canadiens missed the playoffs last season by two points. The year before they missed by a wide margin. With this season up in the air, there was little doubt the Habs were going to be on the outside looking in when the playoffs began.

This will only be the third time in the history of the Montreal Canadiens that they would have a three year playoff drought. Their last playoff series was back in 2017, and since the league is on “pause” at the moment, we decided to take a look back on that series between the Montreal Canadiens and New York Rangers.

The Canadiens won their division in 2017, finishing with a 47-26-9 record which gave them 103 points in the standings. The Washington Capitals finished first in the Eastern Conference standings with 118 points, so they played the second wild card team and the Habs were set to host the first wild card team, which was the New York Rangers.

In an odd twist of the wild card rules, the Toronto Maple Leafs were the second wild card and moved over to the Metropolitan Division to face the Capitals, while the Rangers slid from the Metropolitan to the Atlantic Division to take on the Canadiens. It would have been fun to watch a Canadiens-Maple Leafs series had the teams stayed inside their own divisions, but alas, the NHL followed its own rules obviously and the Rangers were in town for Game 1.

The Canadiens were led offensively by Max Pacioretty and Alex Radulov that season. Pacioretty scored 35 goals and 67 points, while Radulov put up 18 goals and 54 points but brought an infectious passion on every shift of his one season in Montreal.

The Habs also had Shea Weber in the lineup for the first time and he was partnered with Andrei Markov on the top pairing. Alex Galchenyuk, Paul Byron and Phillip Danault provided some secondary scoring throughout the regular season.

Carey Price was the team’s main reason for success. He started 62 games, posting a 2.23 goals against average and a .923 save percentage. Price received a Vezina Trophy nomination that season but came in third place behind Sergei Bobrovsky and Braden Holtby.

On the Rangers side, they had a veteran stalwart in net at their end as well with Henrik Lundqvist. He didn’t have his best regular season, posting a .910 SV%, but he had quite the pedigree heading into the series.

The Rangers didn’t have an elite scoring forward, but had a deep attack. Mats Zuccarello led the team with 59 points and he was followed closely by JT Miller, Chris Kreider, Derek Stepan and Kevin Hayes. They also had Michael Grabner and Rick Nash who scored 20 goals and Mika Zibanejad who had 37 points in 56 games.

The two teams had recently met in the Eastern Conference Final in 2014, when the Rangers won in six games after Carey Price was injured in the first game of the season so there was immediate animosity. Game 1 was set for the Bell Centre in Montreal on April 12, 2017.

MONTREAL, QC – APRIL 12: Montreal Canadiens and the New York Rangers in Game One of the Eastern Conference First Round (Photo by Minas Panagiotakis/Getty Images) /

Game 1

The game was a physical affair early on and Henrik Lundqvist served notice that he was better than his regular season numbers showed by making several big saves early in the game. This kept the game scoreless until midway through the opening period when Tanner Glass (of all people) scored on a backhand right after a face-off in the Habs zone to make it 1-0.

Rewatching this game and a couple of things stand out right away.

Andrei Markov was so patient with the puck and awesome at creating passing lanes.
Carey Price and Henrik Lundqvist were unbelievable in this game.
Andreas Martinsen, Dwight King and Steve Ott were brought in at the trade deadline for some reason.
Nikita Nesterov used to play for the Habs.
Alex Radulov and Max Pacioretty were dynamite together.
You don’t win puck races with Michael Grabner.

This game was all about goaltending. The Canadiens outshot the Rangers 31-30 on the shot clock, but Tanner Glass was the only player to beat a goaltender. He also was on the ice the least of any player on either team in the game, playing just over eight minutes.

Grabner added an empty net goal to make it a 2-0 final and give the Rangers a 1-0 series lead. For some reason, Dwight King played more than Brendan Gallagher in this game.

Game 2

The Habs finally solved Lundqvist early in Game 2, when Jeff Petry was given all kinds of time in the offensive zone and fired a wrist shot blocker side that went off the post and in just 4:05 into the game. The Bell Centre was rocking.

The Rangers tied it with six minutes left to play after Nathan Beaulieu turned the puck over at the blue line to Grabner. We learned in Game 1 not to get into puck races with Grabner, and in Game 2 we learned you definitely don’t want to give him a breakaway from his own blue line. No one could catch him and he pulled a nice backhand deke to tie the game.

The Habs had a speedster of their own and he got loose for a breakaway in the first period, but Paul Byron was stopped by Lundqvist when he deked to the backhand. Just a couple minutes later, Byron got another chance as Gallagher carried the puck into the zone and found Byron in the slot. Byron wristed it over Lundqvist to give the Habs another lead.

The Canadiens carried that lead into the second period and the physicality continued. There was a large scrum early in the period and Shea Weber nearly decapitated JT Miller in a fight behind the Habs goal. More importantly, goals from Rick Nash and Zuccarello gave the Rangers a 3-2 lead heading into the third period.

The Canadiens absolutely poured on the pressure, wanting to give their fans something to cheer for and looking to avoid a devastating 2-0 series deficit on home ice. They had several great chances to tie the game but were turned aside by Lundqvist again and again.

Finally, in the last minute they pulled Price for an extra attacker. Weber, Markov, Tomas Plekanec, Radulov, Pacioretty and Alex Galchenyuk were all over the Rangers. A Weber shot was blocked but then he shoved down Grabner who was trying to clear the zone and got the puck to Galchenyuk near the blue line. He sent it down low to Radulov in the corner. Radulov fed a cross-ice pass in front and Plekanec tipped it in to tie the game with 18 seconds left in regulation.

The crowd went absolutely insane, and did so again when Radulov scored the game’s winning goal late in the first overtime period. The Habs, started by Markov with his patience and vision, moved the puck around the Rangers zone before Pacioretty threw it on net. Radulov banged away at the rebound until he knocked it past Lundqvist with the Habs 58th shot of the game to tie the series at one.

NEW YORK, NY – APRIL 22: Rick Nash #61 of the New York Rangers skates against the Montreal Canadiens (Photo by Bruce Bennett/Getty Images) /

Game 3

With the scene shifting to Madison Square Garden for Game 3, the Habs looked to carry their momentum with them and had plenty of chances in the opening period. They couldn’t solve Lundqvist and headed to the first intermission tied at zero.

In a very physical series, the Habs got a chance when JT Miller tried to win a face-off with his hand and was called for a face-off violation. On the ensuing power play, a nice three way passing play from Plekanec to Gallagher down low to Artturi Lehkonen in the slot resulted in a booming one-timer going over Lundqvist’s shoulder to open the scoring late in the second period.

The Habs extended their lead to 2-0 when Weber scored on a one-timer from the slot off a nice pass from Galchenyuk. An unbelievable effort from Radulov made in 3-0, when he fed a pass to Danault in the offensive zone, before Danault lost control of the puck. Radulov then pounced on the loose puck and deked around Lundqvist with one hand on his stick and slid the puck into the goal as he reached around the Rangers outstretched goaltender.

The Rangers did get one back late when they had their goaltender out but a couple more big saves from Price held the score at 3-1 and gave the Habs a 2-1 series lead. Price stopped 20 of the 21 shots he faced and the Canadiens cut their shots on goal in half to 29, but won the game.

NEW YORK, NY – APRIL 18: Henrik Lundqvist #30 of the New York Rangers reaches behind himself to grab a shot by Alexander Radulov #47 of the Montreal Canadiens (Photo by Bruce Bennett/Getty Images) /

Game 4

The Canadiens didn’t exactly put the pedal to the floor in Game 4 in an attempt to put the Rangers on the ropes. They had a chance to come away with a 3-1 series lead with two of the final three games scheduled in Montreal, but they were pretty tentative early on before this one settled in as a goaltender’s duel between Price and Lundqvist.

Andrew Shaw, who was playing on a third line with Galchenyuk and Lehkonen, had a great chance on a breakaway but was turned aside by Lundqvist. Markov, of all people, made a mistake in his own zone when a puck rolling around the boards bounced off his foot and instead of going to his stick, ended up on Jesper Fast‘s stick as he cut to the net and slid it between the pads of Price.

Then, Torrey Mitchell took over. Seriously. He was stopped on a partial breakaway when the teams were playing at four on four, but just a couple of minutes later was sent in on a 2-on-1 with Weber after a great pass from Radulov (of course).

Mitchell fed a pass across to Weber, but got the puck back quickly and fired a one-timer past Lundqvist to tie the game late in the opening period.

Early in the second period, Ryan McDonagh held a puck in at the blue line that looked like it was leaving the zone. He quickly fired a pass down low to Rick Nash who was cutting to the net and he slid the puck under Price to give the Rangers a 2-1 lead.

The Habs came so close to tying the game in the third period. Early on, a shot from Lehkonen squeaked through the pads of Lundqvist and he couldn’t cover it. As he turned to try and find the loose puck he kicked it but it just rolled past the post and missed the net.

Late in the final frame with Price on the bench for an extra attacked, Weber (who was unreal this whole series) fired a one-timer blast from the point and rang it off the post. The Canadiens tried furiously to tie the game late like they did in Game 2, but it wasn’t to be this time. The series headed back to Montreal tied at two.

MONTREAL, QC – APRIL 20: Phillip Danault #24 of the Montreal Canadiens (Photo by Minas Panagiotakis/Getty Images) /

Game 5

This game was an opportunity for the Habs to take the series lead back again on home ice after a tough 2-1 loss in New York in Game 4. It did not get off to the best start as Mika Zibanejad got a glorious scoring chance less than a minute into the game but Price made a terrific pad save.

Just after the midway point of the first period, Lehkonen won a puck battle along the boards on the forecheck and got the puck back to the point. A shot was blocked but landed near Lehkonen and he had a chance to fire the puck on goal. It missed and ended up behind the net but once again Lehkonen was the first one on it and he buried the puck on a wraparound that surprised Lundqvist.

Less than four minutes later, with the Habs on the power play, Galchenyuk turned the puck over to Zibanejad who went down the ice on a two-on-two with Fast. The pair of Rangers criss-crossed as they entered the Habs zone and seemed to confuse Nathan Beaulieu and Jeff Petry just long enough to get Fast between them and in on goal. Zibanejad found him with a perfect pass and Fast quickly fired the puck past Price for a shorthanded goal.

Just 25 seconds later the Habs answered back, making up for their power play blunder. Markov made a nifty backhand pass from the point to Gallagher in the middle of the ice. Gallagher spun and took a step toward the Rangers goal before firing a snap shot past a screened Lundqvist to give the Habs a 2-1 lead into the second period.

Price and Lundqvist traded saves for most of the second period, but the Rangers tied it late when Nash crashed the net again and created an opportunity. Brady Skjei jumped into the play and pounced on a rebound to tie the game.

The Canadiens had so many chances to win this game in the third period it is difficult to watch even now. Danault hit the post on a two-on-one rush. Pacioretty was turned aside on a breakaway, Galchenyuk was stopped after cruising through the slot and having a terrific scoring chance, they had a late power play they couldn’t capitalize on.

Then, the Rangers won it in overtime off a broken play. Chris Kreider tried to shoot the puck off the rush, but a great back check from Lehkonen stopped him from getting anything on his wrist shot. The puck did however, slide across the ice and landed right on Zibanejad’s stick who fired it past Price into the open goal to give the Rangers the win and a 3-2 series lead heading back to MSG.

NEW YORK, NY – APRIL 22: Henrik Lundqvist #30 of the New York Rangers (Photo by Bruce Bennett/Getty Images) /

Game 6

It was do or die for the Habs in Game 6 after losing back to back contests. The game got off on the right foot as a Herculean effort from Radulov got the puck back to Alexei Emelin at the point and the rugged, defensive defenseman wired a wrist shot into the top corner to give the Habs a 1-0 lead.

The Habs took that lead into the first intermission, but an early penalty to Jordie Benn put them down a man. The Rangers moved the puck around the Habs zone quickly and a cross-ice feed from Game 5 Hero Mika Zibanejad got to Zuccarello who tied the game.

Another great forechecking shift from Miller (fully healed from the Game 2 decapitation) and Hayes, got the puck in the Habs zone. Miller moved it to Hayes in the slot who found Zuccarello at the side of the net and he tapped in his second of the game to give the Rangers a 2-1 lead late in the second period.

On the ice for the Habs for that goal were Jordie Benn, Brandon Davidson, Steve Ott, Dwight King and Michael McCarron. Yikes.

The Habs had some great chances to tie the game, with Weber being robbed on a point shot, and Petry getting in tight but stopped by the arm of Lundqvist. The best chance came in the final minute when a puck squirted loose to Plekanec just in front of the Rangers crease. It was a bouncing, rolling puck and Plekanec couldn’t get a lot on it. Lundqvist just kicked his pad out in time to stop it. Had Plekanec put about seven inches of air underneath it, it would have gone in for sure.

Lehkonen had another chance with about 20 seconds left in regulation, but his shot was blocked. Derek Stepan quickly flipped it down the ice and it ended up in the Habs open goal for an empty net series clincher.

When the final buzzer sounded, reality quickly set in that the Habs just could not score often enough on Lundqvist to win this series. He completed the series having allowed 11 goals on 206 shots over the six games. He had a 1.70 GAA and a .947 SV%.

Price was terrific all series as well. He had a 1.86 GAA and a .933 SV% but it wasn’t enough. Max Pacioretty didn’t score a goal the whole series, neither did Danault or Galchenyuk. It was a painful series for Habs fans to watch.

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However, it has been even more painful watching the past three seasons without any playoff games at the Bell Centre. At least this series had a few huge highs like Plekanec and Radulov’s goals in Game 2 at the Bell Centre.

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