The Utah Hockey Club is in an interesting situation, as it is technically a new franchise that adopted all of the Arizona Coyotes players. This differs from most relocation teams, as they usually take on the whole team's history. Still, it differs from an expansion team because it is a brand-new organization but didn't have to go through the expansion draft process. The result is somewhere in the middle of relocation and expansion. Nevertheless, this article examines the Montreal Canadien's all-time history against Utah and the Coyotes.
The Canadiens have never played against the Utah Hockey Club, but they have their fair share of meetings with the Coyotes. The Canadiens are 53-22-9 against the Coyotes' franchise, including a 1-1 record against the same roster as Utah's last season.
Canadiens-Coyotes last matchup
Sam Montembeault was the first star in the final matchup in the all-time series of the Canadiens-Coyotes. Arizona visited Montreal on February 27, 2024, which the Canadiens won 4-2. Jordan Harris had one of his best games of his Canadiens career, tallying a goal and an assist.
Joel Armia and Tanner Pearson also added goals, while Nick Suzuki iced the game with three seconds remaining on an empty netter. The Canadiens won three of four games over the past two seasons to close out their history. It was always challenging for Arizona when they visited Montreal, as the Canadiens held a 32-8-2 record at home.
The Canadiens dominated the series through the 2000s, as they defeated Arizona on December 7, 2002, and didn't lose again until December 17, 2013. It's no massive surprise that the Canadiens had plenty of success, as Arizona was an abysmal team for most of their history.
The most notable connection between these two teams over the past few seasons is the Christian Dvorak trade, which isn't saying much. The Canadiens were the team that took a chance on Dvorak when the Coyotes were trying to get out from under the player, and they have been mostly regretting it.