# 1971–72 Montreal Canadiens season

The 1971–72 Montreal Canadiens season was the team's 63rd season of play. The Canadiens qualified for the playoffs but were eliminated in the first round.

## Regular season
### Final standings

East Division vte :
| | | GP | W | L | T | GF | GA | DIFF | Pts |
| 1 | Boston Bruins | 78 | 54 | 13 | 11 | 330 | 204 | +126 | 119 |
| 2 | New York Rangers | 78 | 48 | 17 | 13 | 317 | 192 | +125 | 109 |
| 3 | Montreal Canadiens | 78 | 46 | 16 | 16 | 307 | 205 | +102 | 108 |
| 4 | Toronto Maple Leafs | 78 | 33 | 31 | 14 | 209 | 208 | +1 | 80 |
| 5 | Detroit Red Wings | 78 | 33 | 35 | 10 | 261 | 262 | −1 | 76 |
| 6 | Buffalo Sabres | 78 | 16 | 43 | 19 | 203 | 289 | −86 | 51 |
| 7 | Vancouver Canucks | 78 | 20 | 50 | 8 | 203 | 297 | −94 | 48 |

### Record vs. opponents
## Schedule and results

Regular season schedule :
| No. | R | Date | Score | Opponent | Record |
| 1 | T | October 9, 1971 | 4–4 | New York Rangers (1971–72) | 0–0–1 |
| 2 | T | October 14, 1971 | 1–1 | @ Minnesota North Stars (1971–72) | 0–0–2 |
| 3 | W | October 16, 1971 | 9–3 | Buffalo Sabres (1971–72) | 1–0–2 |
| 4 | L | October 17, 1971 | 4–8 | @ New York Rangers (1971–72) | 1–1–2 |
| 5 | W | October 20, 1971 | 4–2 | @ California Golden Seals (1971–72) | 2–1–2 |
| 6 | W | October 22, 1971 | 6–0 | @ Vancouver Canucks (1971–72) | 3–1–2 |
| 7 | W | October 23, 1971 | 3–1 | @ Los Angeles Kings (1971–72) | 4–1–2 |
| 8 | W | October 27, 1971 | 5–2 | Boston Bruins (1971–72) | 5–1–2 |
| 9 | W | October 30, 1971 | 3–0 | Detroit Red Wings (1971–72) | 6–1–2 |
| 10 | L | October 31, 1971 | 3–5 | @ Philadelphia Flyers (1971–72) | 6–2–2 |
| 11 | W | November 3, 1971 | 5–1 | St. Louis Blues (1971–72) | 7–2–2 |
| 12 | W | November 6, 1971 | 2–1 | Chicago Black Hawks (1971–72) | 8–2–2 |
| 13 | W | November 7, 1971 | 3–2 | @ Boston Bruins (1971–72) | 9–2–2 |
| 14 | W | November 10, 1971 | 5–2 | @ Toronto Maple Leafs (1971–72) | 10–2–2 |
| 15 | W | November 13, 1971 | 5–1 | @ Minnesota North Stars (1971–72) | 11–2–2 |
| 16 | T | November 14, 1971 | 2–2 | @ Buffalo Sabres (1971–72) | 11–2–3 |
| 17 | W | November 16, 1971 | 7–2 | California Golden Seals (1971–72) | 12–2–3 |
| 18 | T | November 18, 1971 | 2–2 | St. Louis Blues (1971–72) | 12–2–4 |
| 19 | T | November 20, 1971 | 2–2 | Philadelphia Flyers (1971–72) | 12–2–5 |
| 20 | T | November 24, 1971 | 3–3 | @ Chicago Black Hawks (1971–72) | 12–2–6 |
| 21 | W | November 27, 1971 | 3–1 | Pittsburgh Penguins (1971–72) | 13–2–6 |
| 22 | L | November 28, 1971 | 2–4 | @ Detroit Red Wings (1971–72) | 13–3–6 |
| 23 | W | December 1, 1971 | 5–3 | Los Angeles Kings (1971–72) | 14–3–6 |
| 24 | W | December 4, 1971 | 7–0 | Vancouver Canucks (1971–72) | 15–3–6 |
| 25 | W | December 8, 1971 | 4–2 | Detroit Red Wings (1971–72) | 16–3–6 |
| 26 | W | December 11, 1971 | 4–3 | Minnesota North Stars (1971–72) | 17–3–6 |
| 27 | L | December 12, 1971 | 1–4 | @ Philadelphia Flyers (1971–72) | 17–4–6 |
| 28 | W | December 15, 1971 | 3–1 | @ Los Angeles Kings (1971–72) | 18–4–6 |
| 29 | W | December 17, 1971 | 6–2 | @ Vancouver Canucks (1971–72) | 19–4–6 |
| 30 | T | December 19, 1971 | 3–3 | @ California Golden Seals (1971–72) | 19–4–7 |
| 31 | W | December 22, 1971 | 4–2 | Toronto Maple Leafs (1971–72) | 20–4–7 |
| 32 | L | December 25, 1971 | 2–4 | @ Pittsburgh Penguins (1971–72) | 20–5–7 |
| 33 | L | December 26, 1971 | 1–5 | @ New York Rangers (1971–72) | 20–6–7 |
| 34 | W | December 29, 1971 | 3–2 | California Golden Seals (1971–72) | 21–6–7 |
| 35 | L | January 1, 1972 | 2–5 | @ Toronto Maple Leafs (1971–72) | 21–7–7 |
| 36 | L | January 2, 1972 | 4–6 | @ Detroit Red Wings (1971–72) | 21–8–7 |
| 37 | W | January 5, 1972 | 6–4 | Vancouver Canucks (1971–72) | 22–8–7 |
| 38 | W | January 8, 1972 | 10–2 | Los Angeles Kings (1971–72) | 23–8–7 |
| 39 | L | January 9, 1972 | 2–5 | @ Chicago Black Hawks (1971–72) | 23–9–7 |
| 40 | L | January 11, 1972 | 3–7 | @ St. Louis Blues (1971–72) | 23–10–7 |
| 41 | W | January 13, 1972 | 7–1 | Pittsburgh Penguins (1971–72) | 24–10–7 |
| 42 | W | January 15, 1972 | 6–2 | Buffalo Sabres (1971–72) | 25–10–7 |
| 43 | L | January 16, 1972 | 2–4 | @ Buffalo Sabres (1971–72) | 25–11–7 |
| 44 | W | January 19, 1972 | 1–0 | Toronto Maple Leafs (1971–72) | 26–11–7 |
| 45 | L | January 22, 1972 | 5–8 | Boston Bruins (1971–72) | 26–12–7 |
| 46 | T | January 23, 1972 | 3–3 | @ Pittsburgh Penguins (1971–72) | 26–12–8 |
| 47 | L | January 27, 1972 | 5–6 | Minnesota North Stars (1971–72) | 26–13–8 |
| 48 | W | January 29, 1972 | 4–0 | St. Louis Blues (1971–72) | 27–13–8 |
| 49 | W | February 1, 1972 | 3–1 | @ St. Louis Blues (1971–72) | 28–13–8 |
| 50 | T | February 3, 1972 | 1–1 | @ Los Angeles Kings (1971–72) | 28–13–9 |
| 51 | T | February 4, 1972 | 2–2 | @ California Golden Seals (1971–72) | 28–13–10 |
| 52 | W | February 6, 1972 | 4–2 | @ Vancouver Canucks (1971–72) | 29–13–10 |
| 53 | W | February 10, 1972 | 7–1 | Chicago Black Hawks (1971–72) | 30–13–10 |
| 54 | W | February 12, 1972 | 6–5 | Los Angeles Kings (1971–72) | 31–13–10 |
| 55 | T | February 13, 1972 | 2–2 | @ Boston Bruins (1971–72) | 31–13–11 |
| 56 | T | February 16, 1972 | 1–1 | California Golden Seals (1971–72) | 31–13–12 |
| 57 | W | February 19, 1972 | 3–1 | Philadelphia Flyers (1971–72) | 32–13–12 |
| 58 | W | February 20, 1972 | 4–0 | @ Buffalo Sabres (1971–72) | 33–13–12 |
| 59 | L | February 22, 1972 | 3–7 | New York Rangers (1971–72) | 33–14–12 |
| 60 | W | February 24, 1972 | 4–2 | @ Minnesota North Stars (1971–72) | 34–14–12 |
| 61 | W | February 26, 1972 | 8–1 | Detroit Red Wings (1971–72) | 35–14–12 |
| 62 | W | February 27, 1972 | 5–3 | Pittsburgh Penguins (1971–72) | 36–14–12 |
| 63 | W | March 1, 1972 | 4–1 | Buffalo Sabres (1971–72) | 37–14–12 |
| 64 | W | March 4, 1972 | 5–0 | Vancouver Canucks (1971–72) | 38–14–12 |
| 65 | W | March 5, 1972 | 4–0 | @ Philadelphia Flyers (1971–72) | 39–14–12 |
| 66 | W | March 8, 1972 | 5–4 | @ Pittsburgh Penguins (1971–72) | 40–14–12 |
| 67 | W | March 9, 1972 | 5–1 | @ St. Louis Blues (1971–72) | 41–14–12 |
| 68 | T | March 11, 1972 | 1–1 | Chicago Black Hawks (1971–72) | 41–14–13 |
| 69 | W | March 13, 1972 | 2–1 | Philadelphia Flyers (1971–72) | 42–14–13 |
| 70 | W | March 15, 1972 | 5–2 | @ Toronto Maple Leafs (1971–72) | 43–14–13 |
| 71 | W | March 18, 1972 | 4–3 | Minnesota North Stars (1971–72) | 44–14–13 |
| 72 | L | March 19, 1972 | 6–7 | @ Detroit Red Wings (1971–72) | 44–15–13 |
| 73 | T | March 22, 1972 | 3–3 | Toronto Maple Leafs (1971–72) | 44–15–14 |
| 74 | T | March 25, 1972 | 3–3 | New York Rangers (1971–72) | 44–15–15 |
| 75 | L | March 26, 1972 | 4–5 | @ Boston Bruins (1971–72) | 44–16–15 |
| 76 | T | March 29, 1972 | 5–5 | @ Chicago Black Hawks (1971–72) | 44–16–16 |
| 77 | W | April 1, 1972 | 6–2 | Boston Bruins (1971–72) | 45–16–16 |
| 78 | W | April 2, 1972 | 6–5 | @ New York Rangers (1971–72) | 46–16–16 |

## Playoffs

After winning the Stanley Cup the previous season, the Canadiens could not repeat. The Canadiens lost to the New York Rangers in the first round, losing four games to two.

## Player statistics
### Regular season
#### Scoring

| Player | GP | G | A | Pts | PIM | +/- | PPG | SHG | GWG |
| Frank Mahovlich | 76 | 43 | 53 | 96 | 36 | 42 | 14 | 4 | 4 |
| Yvan Cournoyer | 73 | 47 | 36 | 83 | 15 | 23 | 18 | 0 | 5 |
| Jacques Lemaire | 77 | 32 | 49 | 81 | 26 | 37 | 8 | 0 | 7 |
| Pete Mahovlich | 75 | 35 | 32 | 67 | 103 | 16 | 7 | 4 | 6 |
| Guy Lafleur | 73 | 29 | 35 | 64 | 48 | 27 | 5 | 0 | 5 |
| J. C. Tremblay | 76 | 6 | 51 | 57 | 24 | 52 | 3 | 0 | 2 |
| Marc Tardif | 75 | 31 | 22 | 53 | 81 | 15 | 9 | 0 | 4 |
| Guy Lapointe | 69 | 11 | 38 | 49 | 58 | 15 | 4 | 0 | 4 |
| Henri Richard | 75 | 12 | 32 | 44 | 48 | 10 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| Claude Larose | 77 | 20 | 18 | 38 | 64 | 9 | 1 | 3 | 4 |
| Réjean Houle | 77 | 11 | 17 | 28 | 21 | 9 | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| Jacques Laperrière | 73 | 3 | 25 | 28 | 50 | 36 | 2 | 0 | 0 |
| Jim Roberts | 51 | 7 | 15 | 22 | 53 | 3 | 0 | 3 | 1 |
| Larry Pleau | 55 | 7 | 10 | 17 | 19 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 2 |
| Terry Harper | 52 | 2 | 12 | 14 | 35 | 9 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Serge Savard | 23 | 1 | 8 | 9 | 16 | 21 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Pierre Bouchard | 60 | 3 | 5 | 8 | 39 | 10 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Phil Roberto | 27 | 3 | 2 | 5 | 22 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Chuck Arnason | 17 | 3 | 0 | 3 | 4 | −1 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Ken Dryden | 64 | 0 | 3 | 3 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Bob Murdoch | 11 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 8 | 8 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Chuck Lefley | 16 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 0 | −1 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Denis DeJordy | 7 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Rey Comeau | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Germain Gagnon | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Dale Hoganson | 21 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Phil Myre | 9 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Rogie Vachon | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |

#### Goaltending

| Player | MIN | GP | W | L | T | GA | GAA | SO |
| Ken Dryden | 3800 | 64 | 39 | 8 | 15 | 142 | 2.24 | 8 |
| Phil Myre | 528 | 9 | 4 | 5 | 0 | 32 | 3.64 | 0 |
| Denis DeJordy | 332 | 7 | 3 | 2 | 1 | 25 | 4.52 | 0 |
| Rogie Vachon | 20 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 4 | 12.00 | 0 |
| Team: | 4680 | 78 | 46 | 16 | 16 | 203 | 2.60 | 8 |

### Playoffs
#### Scoring

| Player | GP | G | A | Pts | PIM | PPG | SHG | GWG |
| Frank Mahovlich | 6 | 3 | 2 | 5 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| Marc Tardif | 6 | 2 | 3 | 5 | 9 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| Guy Lafleur | 6 | 1 | 4 | 5 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Yvan Cournoyer | 6 | 2 | 1 | 3 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Claude Larose | 6 | 2 | 1 | 3 | 23 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Jacques Lemaire | 6 | 2 | 1 | 3 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Henri Richard | 6 | 0 | 3 | 3 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Terry Harper | 5 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 6 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Pete Mahovlich | 6 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 12 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| J. C. Tremblay | 6 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Jim Roberts | 6 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| Guy Lapointe | 6 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Pierre Bouchard | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Ken Dryden | 6 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Réjean Houle | 6 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Jacques Laperrière | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Bob Murdoch | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Larry Pleau | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Serge Savard | 6 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 10 | 0 | 0 | 0 |

#### Goaltending

| Player | MIN | GP | W | L | GA | GAA | SO |
| Ken Dryden | 360 | 6 | 2 | 4 | 17 | 2.83 | 0 |
| Team: | 360 | 6 | 2 | 4 | 17 | 2.83 | 0 |

## Awards and records

* Calder Memorial Trophy: Ken Dryden

## Transactions

| May 22, 1971 | To California Golden Seals Bobby Sheehan | To Montreal Canadiens cash |
| August 31, 1971 | To California Golden Seals Marshall Johnston | To Montreal Canadiens cash |
| October, 1971 | To California Golden Seals cash | To Montreal Canadiens Jocelyn Hardy |
| October, 1971 | To California Golden Seals cash | To Montreal Canadiens Mike Laughton |
| October, 1971 | To California Golden Seals Lyle Carter John French | To Montreal Canadiens Randy Rota |
| October 6, 1971 | To California Golden Seals Ray Martyniuk | To Montreal Canadiens Tony Featherstone |

## Draft picks

Montreal's draft picks at the 1971 NHL amateur draft held at the Queen Elizabeth Hotel in Montreal.
| Round | # | Player | Nationality | College/Junior/Club team (League) |
| 1 | 1 | Guy Lafleur | Canada | Quebec Remparts (QMJHL) |
| 1 | 7 | Chuck Arnason | Canada | Flin Flon Bombers (WCHL) |
| 1 | 11 | Murray Wilson | Canada | Ottawa 67's (OHA) |
| 2 | 20 | Larry Robinson | Canada | Kitchener Rangers (OHA) |
| 2 | 24 | Michel DeGuise | Canada | Sorel Eperviers (QMJHL) |
| 2 | 25 | Terry French | Canada | Ottawa 67's (OHA) |
| 3 | 31 | Jim Cahoon | Canada | University of North Dakota (WCHA) |
| 4 | 45 | Ed Sidebottom | Canada | Estevan Bruins (WCHL) |
| 4 | 53 | Greg Hubick | Canada | University of Minnesota Duluth (WCHA) |
| 5 | 67 | Mike Busniuk | Canada | University of Denver (WCHA) |
| 6 | 81 | Ross Butler | Canada | Winnipeg Jets (WCHL) |
| 7 | 95 | Peter Sullivan | Canada | Oshawa Generals (OHA) |