# 1927–28 Montreal Canadiens season

The 1927–28 Montreal Canadiens season was the team's 19th season, and 11th in the National Hockey League (NHL). The team improved from its second-place finish to place first in the Canadian Division and qualify for the playoffs. The Canadiens lost in a playoff rematch against the rival Maroons in a two-game total-goals series 3–2.

## Regular season

Howie Morenz, the NHL's top drawing card, dominated the scoring race and was runaway winner of the Hart Trophy. He scored 33 goals and led the league in assists as well. The Canadiens, who were running away with the Canadian Division at mid-season, slumped after an injury to Pit Lepine but managed to hold on to first place at season's end.

### Final standings

Canadian Division :
| | GP | W | L | T | GF | GA | PIM | Pts |
| Montreal Canadiens | 44 | 26 | 11 | 7 | 116 | 48 | 496 | 59 |
| Montreal Maroons | 44 | 24 | 14 | 6 | 96 | 77 | 549 | 54 |
| Ottawa Senators | 44 | 20 | 14 | 10 | 78 | 57 | 483 | 50 |
| Toronto Maple Leafs | 44 | 18 | 18 | 8 | 89 | 88 | 436 | 44 |
| New York Americans | 44 | 11 | 27 | 6 | 63 | 128 | 563 | 28 |
Note: W = Wins, L = Losses, T = Ties, GF = Goals For, GA = Goals Against, Pts = Points
 Teams that qualified for the playoffs are highlighted in bold.

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

Regular season results :
| No. | R | Date | Score | Opponent | Record |
| 1 | W | November 15, 1927 | 6–1 | @ New York Americans (1927–28) | 1–0–0 |
| 2 | T | November 19, 1927 | 1–1 OT | Montreal Maroons (1927–28) | 1–0–1 |
| 3 | W | November 22, 1927 | 4–0 | Pittsburgh Pirates (1927–28) | 2–0–1 |
| 4 | L | November 27, 1927 | 0–2 | @ Detroit Cougars (1927–28) | 2–1–1 |
| 5 | W | November 30, 1927 | 5–2 | @ Chicago Black Hawks (1927–28) | 3–1–1 |
| 6 | W | December 3, 1927 | 4–0 | New York Americans (1927–28) | 4–1–1 |
| 7 | T | December 6, 1927 | 1–1 OT | @ Boston Bruins (1927–28) | 4–1–2 |
| 8 | W | December 8, 1927 | 2–1 OT | Toronto Maple Leafs (1927–28) | 5–1–2 |
| 9 | W | December 11, 1927 | 2–0 | @ New York Rangers (1927–28) | 6–1–2 |
| 10 | W | December 13, 1927 | 6–1 | Detroit Cougars (1927–28) | 7–1–2 |
| 11 | W | December 15, 1927 | 2–1 | @ Montreal Maroons (1927–28) | 8–1–2 |
| 12 | W | December 17, 1927 | 5–1 | Boston Bruins (1927–28) | 9–1–2 |
| 13 | W | December 22, 1927 | 5–2 | Chicago Black Hawks (1927–28) | 10–1–2 |
| 14 | T | December 24, 1927 | 2–2 OT | @ Pittsburgh Pirates (1927–28) | 10–1–3 |
| 15 | T | December 27, 1927 | 0–0 OT | @ Ottawa Senators (1927–28) | 10–1–4 |
| 16 | W | December 31, 1927 | 1–0 | New York Rangers (1927–28) | 11–1–4 |
| 17 | W | January 4, 1928 | 3–1 | @ Chicago Black Hawks (1927–28) | 12–1–4 |
| 18 | W | January 5, 1928 | 2–1 | @ Detroit Cougars (1927–28) | 13–1–4 |
| 19 | W | January 7, 1928 | 9–1 | @ Toronto Maple Leafs (1927–28) | 14–1–4 |
| 20 | W | January 10, 1928 | 3–0 | Ottawa Senators (1927–28) | 15–1–4 |
| 21 | W | January 15, 1928 | 3–1 | @ New York Americans (1927–28) | 16–1–4 |
| 22 | W | January 17, 1928 | 3–1 | @ Boston Bruins (1927–28) | 17–1–4 |
| 23 | L | January 21, 1928 | 0–1 | Montreal Maroons (1927–28) | 17–2–4 |
| 24 | W | January 24, 1928 | 10–0 | Chicago Black Hawks (1927–28) | 18–2–4 |
| 25 | L | January 28, 1928 | 1–2 | Ottawa Senators (1927–28) | 18–3–4 |
| 26 | L | January 31, 1928 | 1–2 | Pittsburgh Pirates (1927–28) | 18–4–4 |
| 27 | L | February 2, 1928 | 3–4 | Toronto Maple Leafs (1927–28) | 18–5–4 |
| 28 | T | February 4, 1928 | 0–0 OT | @ Montreal Maroons (1927–28) | 18–5–5 |
| 29 | W | February 7, 1928 | 2–1 | @ Toronto Maple Leafs (1927–28) | 19–5–5 |
| 30 | T | February 11, 1928 | 1–1 OT | Boston Bruins (1927–28) | 19–5–6 |
| 31 | L | February 14, 1928 | 0–1 | New York Americans (1927–28) | 19–6–6 |
| 32 | L | February 18, 1928 | 0–1 | @ Ottawa Senators (1927–28) | 19–7–6 |
| 33 | T | February 21, 1928 | 0–0 OT | Toronto Maple Leafs (1927–28) | 19–7–7 |
| 34 | L | February 26, 1928 | 0–1 | @ New York Americans (1927–28) | 19–8–7 |
| 35 | W | February 28, 1928 | 2–0 | @ Ottawa Senators (1927–28) | 20–8–7 |
| 36 | L | March 3, 1928 | 2–3 OT | Montreal Maroons (1927–28) | 20–9–7 |
| 37 | W | March 6, 1928 | 2–1 | @ Pittsburgh Pirates (1927–28) | 21–9–7 |
| 38 | W | March 8, 1928 | 4–3 | New York Rangers (1927–28) | 22–9–7 |
| 39 | W | March 10, 1928 | 3–0 | @ Montreal Maroons (1927–28) | 23–9–7 |
| 40 | W | March 13, 1928 | 4–1 | @ New York Rangers (1927–28) | 24–9–7 |
| 41 | L | March 15, 1928 | 0–1 | Detroit Cougars (1927–28) | 24–10–7 |
| 42 | L | March 17, 1928 | 3–5 | @ Toronto Maple Leafs (1927–28) | 24–11–7 |
| 43 | W | March 20, 1928 | 5–0 | New York Americans (1927–28) | 25–11–7 |
| 44 | W | March 24, 1928 | 4–0 | Ottawa Senators (1927–28) | 26–11–7 |

## Playoffs

The Canadiens received a first-round bye and met the Maroons in the semi-finals. In a two-game, total goals series, the series was tied going into sudden-death overtime before Russell Oatman scored the winner at 8:20 to win the series 3–2 ( 2–2, 1–0) for the Maroons.

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

| Player | Pos | GP | G | A | Pts | PIM |
| Howie Morenz | C | 43 | 33 | 18 | 51 | 66 |
| Aurel Joliat | LW | 44 | 28 | 11 | 39 | 105 |
| Art Gagne | RW | 44 | 20 | 10 | 30 | 75 |
| Sylvio Mantha | D | 43 | 4 | 11 | 15 | 61 |
| Albert Leduc | D | 42 | 8 | 5 | 13 | 73 |
| Leo Gaudreault | LW/C | 32 | 6 | 2 | 8 | 24 |
| Herb Gardiner | D | 44 | 4 | 3 | 7 | 26 |
| Pit Lepine | C | 20 | 4 | 1 | 5 | 6 |
| Gizzy Hart | LW | 44 | 3 | 2 | 5 | 4 |
| Wildor Larochelle | RW | 40 | 3 | 1 | 4 | 30 |
| Leo Lafrance | LW | 15 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 2 |
| George Patterson | W | 16 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 |
| Marty Burke | D | 11 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 10 |
| George Hainsworth | G | 44 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Charlie Langlois | RW/D | 32 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 14 |

#### Goaltending

| Player | MIN | GP | W | L | T | GA | GAA | SO |
| George Hainsworth | 2730 | 44 | 26 | 11 | 7 | 48 | 1.05 | 13 |
| Team: | 2730 | 44 | 26 | 11 | 7 | 48 | 1.05 | 13 |

### Playoffs
#### Scoring

| Player | Pos | GP | G | A | Pts | PIM |
| Art Gagne | RW | 2 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 4 |
| Albert Leduc | D | 2 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 5 |
| Herb Gardiner | D | 2 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 4 |
| George Hainsworth | G | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Gizzy Hart | LW | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Aurel Joliat | LW | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 |
| Charlie Langlois | RW/D | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Wildor Larochelle | RW | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Pit Lepine | C | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Sylvio Mantha | D | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 6 |
| Howie Morenz | C | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 12 |

#### Goaltending

| Player | MIN | GP | W | L | GA | GAA | SO |
| George Hainsworth | 128 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 3 | 1.41 | 0 |
| Team: | 128 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 3 | 1.41 | 0 |
    Pos = Position; GPI = Games played in; G = Goals; A = Assists; Pts = Points; PIM = Penalty minutes; +/- = Plus/minus; PPG = Power-play goals; SHG = Short-handed goals; GWG = Game-winning goals
    Min, TOI = Minutes played; W = Wins; L = Losses; T,T/OT = Ties; OTL = Overtime losses; GA = Goals-against; GAA = Goals-against average; SO = Shutouts; SA = Shots against; SV = Shots saved; SV% = Save percentage;

## Awards and records

* Hart Memorial Trophy – Howie Morenz