Montreal Canadiens: Looking Back at Their Last Playoff Series Victory

The Canadiens have not played a playoff game since losing to the New York Rangers in Game 6 of the opening round in 2017. They haven’t won a playoff series since 2015.

The Montreal Canadiens were well on their way to missing the playoffs for a third straight season before the season went on pause. Their last playoff series was a six game loss to the New York Rangers when Henrik Lundqvist dialled the clock back to his younger days and shut the door on the Habs in 2017.

We took a look back at that series yesterday, to remind of us more entertaining times in the sports calendar. We can sort of get our sports fix by rewatching old Habs games and reminiscing about better times in the Habs history. Of course, looking back at a series they lost wasn’t the greatest reminder of better times.

After digging into their latest playoff series, we thought we should take a look at their last series victory. We have to look back five years to when the Habs took on the Ottawa Senators in the first round of the postseason.

The Canadiens were led offensively by Max Pacioretty that season, much like they were for most of the decade. He scored 37 goals and 67 points to lead the team but was followed closely behind by Tomas Plekanec and PK Subban who each had 60 point seasons. Plekanec was mostly playing on a second line with Alex Galchenyuk and Brendan Gallagher while Pacioretty was carrying David Desharnais and either Dale Weise (seriously, remember?) or PA Parenteau on the top line.

The Habs top pairing of Andrei Markov and Subban chewed up a lot of minutes and was a terrific two-way pairing with Markov putting up 50 points at the age of 35 and Subban reaching 60 for the first time in his career.

The Canadiens finished with 110 points in the standings, just beating out the Tampa Bay Lightning for first in the Atlantic Division. The Habs were actually just three points back of the New York Rangers for the President’s Trophy.

Most of the team’s success could be attributed to Carey Price. He was at the height of his powers in 2015, and though the awards were not handed out until the end of the playoffs, Price would win the Hart Trophy, Vezina Trophy, Ted Lindsay Award and William Jennings Trophy. Basically, he won every regular season award he was eligible to win.

The Senators, were having a dreadful season in 2014-15 until they turned the net over to Andrew Hammond, who affectionately became known as “The Hamburglar.” He was exceptional down the stretch to help the Sens squeeze into the postseason by posting 99 points and just knocking off the Boston Bruins for the final playoff spot.

Hammond played 24 regular season games and went an incredible 20-1-2 in those games. He had a sparkling 1.79 goals against average and a .941 save percentage in that time after coming out of nowhere for Ottawa.

The Sens actually had a decent attack with some young talent that they looked to build around. Erik Karlsson, Kyle Turris, Mika Zibanejad, Mike Hoffman, Mark Stone were all 25 or younger and had 46 or more points. The Senators of course have traded them all since then.

The Senators were a big underdog on paper, but with The Hamburglar in net, an upset certainly seemed possible.

Game 1

The Canadiens and Senators had played each other just two years earlier in a very physical series that was dominated by the Sens. Surely, this series would not be as bloody, physical and injury-riddled. We even had players and coaches go at each other in the media with Brandon Prust calling Sens head coach Paul MacLean a “bug-eyed fat walrus” and MacLean blaming Raphael Diaz for Eric Gryba trying to decapitate Lars Eller with a ridiculous head-hunting attack.

Anyway, it got weird in the media but we will get to that in a minute. Habs top offensive threat Max Pacioretty was ruled out of the opening game with a suspected concussion, limiting the Canadiens already thin attack.

The first game started fairly tentatively as playoff series have a tendency to do. Hammond and Price turned aside some tough early tests, and then Milan Michalek opened the scoring late in the first.

Well, Michalek dumped the puck into the Habs zone and when it bounced towards the Habs crease, Markov tapped it into the net. So, technically Markov opened the scoring, he just scored on his own net.

Things got interesting in the second period as the action came fast and furious. First, Torrey Mitchell tied the game on a wraparound and broke the impenetrable wall that was The Hamburglar. Just 15 seconds later, Plekanec came flying down the wing and fired a shot through the legs of Hammond to give the Habs a lead. Just 15 seconds after that, Subban was thrown out of the game for slashing Mark Stone on the wrist. Subban had assisted on both Habs goals. That’s a heck of a shift.

The slash was what is generally called a minor penalty but for some reason was enough to give Subban a major and a game misconduct. Then, after the game, Senators team owner/jester Eugene Melnyk claimed that Stone had suffered a microfracture which is a medical term Melnyk had invented. This was around the same time he said he was going to run a forensic investigation to prove Matt Cooke intentionally tore Karlsson’s achilles tendon, so I really don’t know what else to say about the owner of the Senators. He has gone on to bury these stories with far more comical and idiotic ones since then.

Anyway, the Senators did score twice on the ensuing power play, but Lars Eller buried a beautiful  goal on a shorthanded breakaway to keep things even at three when the Habs finally returned to even strength. Eller was sent in along after he caused a turnover at the Habs blue line and then Brian Flynn moved the back to him at the red line. Eller made no mistake deking to the forehand and firing a wrist shot into the top corner.

The Canadiens took the lead back when a great forechecking shift from their fourth line of Flynn, Brandon Prust and Torrey Mitchell put the Sens on their heels. Prust kicked the puck loose to Flynn down low and he drove the net like a young Rick Nash, driving to the front of the crease and shovelling the puck under Hammond and he stretched across the crease. It was Flynn’s third point of the net. It was also his last of the postseason.

The Habs tried to extend the lead early in the third with several chances before the inevitable late game push from the Sens who were trying to tie the game. However, Hammond and Price held firm in the final period and the Habs held on to their one goal lead to take the first game of the series.

Game 2

After all the media hoopla surrounding Melnyk and his diagnosis of Stone’s injury, Stone was just fine and ready to play in the second game of the series and Subban was not suspended indefinitely like the Sens owner would have liked.

PA Parenteau was ruled out with an upper body injury and Pacioretty was a game-time decision but did return to the lineup for the second game, as did Mark Stone.

Stone actually set up the first goal of the game, moving the puck up ice to Clarke MacArthur who fired a wrist shot past Price late in the first period. The Habs solved The Hamburglar early in the second when some quick puck movement on the power play opened Pacioretty up in the slot. He made no mistake wiring a wrist shot through Hammond.

The Habs took the lead late in the period when a line of Desharnais, Pacioretty and Devante Smith-Pelly won a board battle for the puck and got it to Subban at the point. Subban hammered a patented slap shot behind an unscreened Hammond and got the Bell Centre fans on their feet.

He was, of course, criticized by many for celebrating his goal. Funny how Subban is the only player to be widely scrutinized for celebrations.

Patrick Wiercioch tied it for the Senators on a late third period power play (Wiercioch was on the power play?). The goal was , of course, set up by the very injured Mark Stone. The Habs got a late power play but couldn’t convert on their many chances, which sent things to overtime.

Eric Gryba (remember, the guy that tried to kill Eller two years earlier) handed the puck over to Plekanec early in overtime. Plekanec got it to Gallagher down low who threw it on net. The rebound came out just past Galchenyuk but he spun around as he gathered it and fired back on goal. It eluded Hammond and gave the Habs a 2-0 series lead.

Man, I miss playoff hockey.

Game 3

The scene shifted from Montreal to Ottawa and the Habs went with the same lineup that was successful in Game 2. The Senators opted to bench The Hamburglar and went with veteran Craig Anderson who also had a solid season and seemed to always bring his A game against the Canadiens. He certainly shut them down in the 2013 postseason.

Anderson and Price made some early saves, but it was MacArthur that opened the scoring midway through the first period. The Senators were playing a desperate game in front of their home fans, knowing that if they fell behind 3-0 in the series, their chances of coming back were slim. They were running around hitting everything in sight and fired a dozen shots on goal in the first period.

Price played well in the opening frame and Anderson shut the door at the other end. The Sens did not let up physically, and were credited for 27 hits in the first period. Even Karlsson got in on the act, running over Nathan Beaulieu at the Habs blue line.

The Habs fourth line of Prust, Mitchell and Weise persevered through the toughness on display and were able to gain some traction in the Sens zone. The Habs had a few power plays but couldn’t solve Anderson. The Sens goaltender had a .950 save percentage in the 2013 playoff series and looked every bit as good in his first game of this series.

With less than six minutes to play in the third period, Prust fired a shot on goal from a sharp angle. It bounced high in the air and Weise gathered it, before calmly firing it into the net before Anderson could find it.

Early in overtime, an awful turnover by Pacioretty gave Stone a glorious scoring chance. He hammered a slap shot from the slot that was labeled for the top corner but an enormous glove save by Price kept the game going.

The Habs went to the power play shortly after Price’s huge save and had a few chances of their own but could not beat Anderson. Finally, just after the power play expired, the Habs fourth line jumped on the ice. Weise carried the puck into the Sens zone and stopped up near the boards at about the hash marks. He fired a short side wrist shot that should have been one of the easiest of the 49 shots Anderson faced all night.

Somehow, it slipped by his blocker and gave the Habs a commanding 3-0 series lead.

Dale Weise. Overtime hero. Playoff hockey is the best.

Game 4

The Canadiens entered the fourth game of the series looking to sweep the Senators and book their ticket to the second round early. This would have given them a nice break before moving on to face a difficult Tampa Bay Lightning team in the second round.

First, they needed to find someone other than Dale Weise who was capable of putting a puck past Craig Anderson. Game 3 was a low scoring affair with Weise tying it at one late in the third period and then winning it in overtime. 2-1 in overtime is about as low scoring as it gets… isn’t it?

The only lineup change that the Habs made was to bring in Greg Pateryn in favour of Nathan Beaulieu. He was injured and missed the rest of the series after averaging about 12 minutes in the first three games of the series. Pateryn would only play 7:48 as the Habs leaned heavily on their top pairing. Markov played 27:44 and Subban was on the ice for 27:35.

As things turned out, Game 4 would be an even lower scoring game than Game 3. Both teams came out trading chances and firing pucks at Price and Anderson. However, both goaltenders were equal to the task early on. And later on.

Price stopped 31 of the 32 shots he faced in the contest. The only goal came from Mike Hoffman halfway through the third period. Cody Ceci made a nice play to keep the puck in at the blue line and found Hoffman open in the slot. He turned a fired a wrist shot that we have become accustomed to seeing from him and it gave the Sens a 1-0 lead.

As it turned out, that was enough to win the game. As good as Price was, Anderson was one better. He turned aside all 28 shots the Habs fired at him and the Senators avoided a sweep at the hands of the Habs.

Game 5

After being shutout in Game 4, the Habs came out flying in the fifth game which was on home ice. They clearly did not want this series to extend any longer and were firing pucks at Anderson from everywhere in this contest. They had a power play less than a minute in and could not convert any of their chances.

Unfortunately, Bobby Ryan fired one from a long distance midway through the first period and it beat Price to give the Senators a 1-0 for the fifth straight game. Patrick Wiercioch extended the lead to 2-0 when he ripped a snap shot from the points through traffic and bear Price up high.

The Canadiens kept firing pucks from everywhere but Anderson stood tall. With about five minute to play in the second period, Karlsson fired a slap shot from the blue line on the power play and it eluded Price to make it 3-0 Sens.

Tom Gilbert pulled the Habs within two early in the third period when his point shot beat Anderson who was screened by Weise and couldn’t find the puck. An awful giveaway by Markov sent Eric Condra in all along on Price later in the third and he buried it with a nice backhand deke to restore the three goal Senators lead.

Ryan added a late goal on a power play to make it 5-1 and send the series to a sixth game back in Ottawa. Suddenly, the Habs were on their heels, even though they led the series 3-2. It wasn’t for lack of effort in this game as they hit the net with 46 shots, but only beat Anderson with one of them.