# 1942–43 Montreal Canadiens season

The 1942–43 Montreal Canadiens season was the 34th season in franchise history. The team placed fourth in the regular season to qualify for the playoffs. The Canadiens lost in the semi-finals against the Boston Bruins 4 games to 2.

## Regular season

The Montreal Canadiens were still making progress, and coach Dick Irvin put together the first "Punch Line" of Elmer Lach, Toe Blake and Joe Benoit. Benoit became the first Canadien to hit the 30-goal plateau since Howie Morenz did it in 1929–30 (40 goals) scoring an even 30. Gordie Drillon also added some scoring power. Rookie Maurice Richard showed promise, but broke his leg. The Canadiens made the playoffs by one point and bowed out in the playoffs' first round. Alex Smart scored three goals in his National Hockey League debut.

### Final standings

National Hockey League vte :
| | | GP | W | L | T | GF | GA | DIFF | Pts |
| 1 | Detroit Red Wings | 50 | 25 | 14 | 11 | 169 | 124 | +45 | 61 |
| 2 | Boston Bruins | 50 | 24 | 17 | 9 | 195 | 176 | +19 | 57 |
| 3 | Toronto Maple Leafs | 50 | 22 | 19 | 9 | 198 | 159 | +39 | 53 |
| 4 | Montreal Canadiens | 50 | 19 | 19 | 12 | 181 | 191 | −10 | 50 |
| 5 | Chicago Black Hawks | 50 | 17 | 18 | 15 | 179 | 180 | −1 | 49 |
| 6 | New York Rangers | 50 | 11 | 31 | 8 | 161 | 253 | −92 | 30 |

### Record vs. opponents

1942–43 NHL Records :
| Team | BOS | CHI | DET | MTL | NYR | TOR |
| Boston | — | 3–4–3 | 4–4–2 | 5–4–1 | 8–2 | 4–3–3 |
| Chicago | 4–3–3 | — | 2–4–4 | 1–4–5 | 4–4–2 | 6–3–1 |
| Detroit | 4–4–2 | 4–2–4 | — | 5–3–2 | 7–1–2 | 5–4–1 |
| Montreal | 4–5–1 | 4–1–5 | 3–5–2 | — | 6–2–2 | 2–6–2 |
| New York | 2–8 | 4–4–2 | 1–7–2 | 2–6–2 | — | 2–6–2 |
| Toronto | 3–4–3 | 3–6–1 | 4–5–1 | 6–2–2 | 6–2–2 | — |

## Schedule and results

Regular season results :
| No. | R | Date | Score | Opponent | Record |
| 1 | W | October 31, 1942 | 3–2 | Boston Bruins (1942–43) | 1–0–0 |
| 2 | L | November 7, 1942 | 3–4 OT | @ New York Rangers (1942–43) | 1–1–0 |
| 3 | W | November 8, 1942 | 10–4 | New York Rangers (1942–43) | 2–1–0 |
| 4 | W | November 12, 1942 | 5–2 | Chicago Black Hawks (1942–43) | 3–1–0 |
| 5 | L | November 14, 1942 | 2–5 | Detroit Red Wings (1942–43) | 3–2–0 |
| 6 | L | November 15, 1942 | 1–3 | @ Detroit Red Wings (1942–43) | 3–3–0 |
| 7 | L | November 17, 1942 | 1–4 | @ Boston Bruins (1942–43) | 3–4–0 |
| 8 | L | November 21, 1942 | 0–8 | @ Toronto Maple Leafs (1942–43) | 3–5–0 |
| 9 | T | November 22, 1942 | 3–3 | @ Chicago Black Hawks (1942–43) | 3–5–1 |
| 10 | T | November 24, 1942 | 4–4 | Detroit Red Wings (1942–43) | 3–5–2 |
| 11 | L | November 28, 1942 | 2–6 | Boston Bruins (1942–43) | 3–6–2 |
| 12 | L | November 29, 1942 | 3–7 | @ Detroit Red Wings (1942–43) | 3–7–2 |
| 13 | W | December 3, 1942 | 4–2 | Toronto Maple Leafs (1942–43) | 4–7–2 |
| 14 | L | December 5, 1942 | 1–9 | @ Toronto Maple Leafs (1942–43) | 4–8–2 |
| 15 | L | December 6, 1942 | 2–5 | @ Chicago Black Hawks (1942–43) | 4–9–2 |
| 16 | L | December 12, 1942 | 2–3 | @ Boston Bruins (1942–43) | 4–10–2 |
| 17 | W | December 13, 1942 | 7–3 | @ New York Rangers (1942–43) | 5–10–2 |
| 18 | L | December 17, 1942 | 1–8 | Toronto Maple Leafs (1942–43) | 5–11–2 |
| 19 | T | December 19, 1942 | 1–1 | New York Rangers (1942–43) | 5–11–3 |
| 20 | L | December 20, 1942 | 3–4 | @ Detroit Red Wings (1942–43) | 5–12–3 |
| 21 | T | December 25, 1942 | 2–2 | Chicago Black Hawks (1942–43) | 5–12–4 |
| 22 | W | December 27, 1942 | 4–2 | Boston Bruins (1942–43) | 6–12–4 |
| 23 | L | January 2, 1943 | 3–6 | @ Toronto Maple Leafs (1942–43) | 6–13–4 |
| 24 | T | January 3, 1943 | 4–4 | Toronto Maple Leafs (1942–43) | 6–13–5 |
| 25 | W | January 9, 1943 | 7–2 | Boston Bruins (1942–43) | 7–13–5 |
| 26 | W | January 10, 1943 | 7–4 | @ New York Rangers (1942–43) | 8–13–5 |
| 27 | W | January 14, 1943 | 5–1 | Chicago Black Hawks (1942–43) | 9–13–5 |
| 28 | L | January 16, 1943 | 4–8 | @ Toronto Maple Leafs (1942–43) | 9–14–5 |
| 29 | W | January 17, 1943 | 2–0 | Toronto Maple Leafs (1942–43) | 10–14–5 |
| 30 | L | January 19, 1943 | 2–5 | @ Boston Bruins (1942–43) | 10–15–5 |
| 31 | T | January 21, 1943 | 4–4 | @ Chicago Black Hawks (1942–43) | 10–15–6 |
| 32 | T | January 23, 1943 | 5–5 | New York Rangers (1942–43) | 10–15–7 |
| 33 | T | January 30, 1943 | 3–3 | Detroit Red Wings (1942–43) | 10–15–8 |
| 34 | W | January 31, 1943 | 4–3 | @ Detroit Red Wings (1942–43) | 11–15–8 |
| 35 | W | February 6, 1943 | 8–3 | Boston Bruins (1942–43) | 12–15–8 |
| 36 | L | February 7, 1943 | 1–7 | @ Boston Bruins (1942–43) | 12–16–8 |
| 37 | W | February 11, 1943 | 5–3 | Chicago Black Hawks (1942–43) | 13–16–8 |
| 38 | W | February 13, 1943 | 5–2 | Detroit Red Wings (1942–43) | 14–16–8 |
| 39 | L | February 14, 1943 | 1–2 | @ Detroit Red Wings (1942–43) | 14–17–8 |
| 40 | W | February 18, 1943 | 5–4 | @ Chicago Black Hawks (1942–43) | 15–17–8 |
| 41 | W | February 20, 1943 | 6–1 | New York Rangers (1942–43) | 16–17–8 |
| 42 | L | February 21, 1943 | 1–6 | @ New York Rangers (1942–43) | 16–18–8 |
| 43 | W | February 25, 1943 | 4–2 | Detroit Red Wings (1942–43) | 17–18–8 |
| 44 | L | February 28, 1943 | 2–4 | Toronto Maple Leafs (1942–43) | 17–19–8 |
| 45 | W | March 4, 1943 | 7–2 | @ New York Rangers (1942–43) | 18–19–8 |
| 46 | T | March 6, 1943 | 2–2 | @ Toronto Maple Leafs (1942–43) | 18–19–9 |
| 47 | T | March 11, 1943 | 4–4 | @ Chicago Black Hawks (1942–43) | 18–19–10 |
| 48 | T | March 13, 1943 | 6–6 | Chicago Black Hawks (1942–43) | 18–19–11 |
| 49 | T | March 14, 1943 | 4–4 | @ Boston Bruins (1942–43) | 18–19–12 |
| 50 | W | March 18, 1943 | 6–3 | New York Rangers (1942–43) | 19–19–12 |

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

| Player | Pos | GP | G | A | Pts | PIM |
| Toe Blake | LW | 48 | 23 | 36 | 59 | 26 |
| Elmer Lach | C | 45 | 18 | 40 | 58 | 14 |
| Buddy O'Connor | C | 50 | 15 | 43 | 58 | 2 |
| Joe Benoit | RW | 49 | 30 | 27 | 57 | 23 |
| Gordie Drillon | RW | 49 | 28 | 22 | 50 | 14 |
| Ray Getliffe | C/LW | 50 | 18 | 28 | 46 | 26 |
| Emile Bouchard | D | 45 | 2 | 16 | 18 | 47 |
| Leo Lamoureux | C/D | 46 | 2 | 16 | 18 | 53 |
| Jack Portland | D | 49 | 3 | 14 | 17 | 52 |
| Dutch Hiller | LW | 39 | 8 | 6 | 14 | 4 |
| Glen Harmon | D | 27 | 5 | 9 | 14 | 25 |
| Terry Reardon | C/RW | 13 | 6 | 6 | 12 | 2 |
| Charlie Sands | C/RW | 31 | 3 | 9 | 12 | 0 |
| Maurice Richard | RW | 16 | 5 | 6 | 11 | 4 |
| William Meronek | C | 12 | 3 | 6 | 9 | 0 |
| Alex Smart | LW | 8 | 5 | 2 | 7 | 0 |
| Tony Demers | RW | 9 | 2 | 5 | 7 | 0 |
| John Mahaffy | C | 9 | 2 | 5 | 7 | 4 |
| Marcel Dheere | LW | 11 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 2 |
| Red Goupille | D | 6 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 8 |
| Tony Graboski | LW/D | 9 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 4 |
| Paul Bibeault | G | 50 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Ernie Laforce | D | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Bobby Lee | C | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Frank Mailley | D | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Irv McGibbon | RW | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 |
| Charlie Phillips | D | 17 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 6 |

#### Goaltending

| Player | MIN | GP | W | L | T | GA | GAA | SO |
| Paul Bibeault | 3010 | 50 | 19 | 19 | 12 | 191 | 3.81 | 1 |
| Team: | 3010 | 50 | 19 | 19 | 12 | 191 | 3.81 | 1 |

### Playoffs
#### Scoring

| Player | Pos | GP | G | A | Pts | PIM |
| Buddy O'Connor | C | 5 | 4 | 5 | 9 | 0 |
| Toe Blake | LW | 5 | 4 | 3 | 7 | 0 |
| Gordie Drillon | RW | 5 | 4 | 2 | 6 | 0 |
| Elmer Lach | C | 5 | 2 | 4 | 6 | 6 |
| Joe Benoit | RW | 5 | 1 | 3 | 4 | 4 |
| Jack Portland | D | 5 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 2 |
| Dutch Hiller | LW | 5 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 4 |
| Emile Bouchard | D | 5 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 4 |
| Ray Getliffe | C/LW | 5 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 8 |
| Glen Harmon | D | 5 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 2 |
| Paul Bibeault | G | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Marcel Dheere | LW | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 6 |
| Gerry Heffernan | RW | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Mike McMahon | D | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 14 |
| William Meronek | C | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Charlie Sands | C/RW | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |

#### Goaltending

| Player | MIN | GP | W | L | GA | GAA | SO |
| Paul Bibeault | 320 | 5 | 1 | 4 | 18 | 3.38 | 1 |
| Team: | 320 | 5 | 1 | 4 | 18 | 3.38 | 1 |
    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;