| TEAM |
GP
Games played - Number of games the team has played
|
W
Wins - Games the team has won, either in regulation or in overtime
|
L
Losses - Games the team has lost in regulation
|
T
Ties - Games that have ended in a tie
|
PTS
Points - Team points, calculated from W, L, T, OTL and SOL; used to determine standings
|
GF
Goals for - Number of goals the team has scored
|
GA
Goals against - Number of goals scored against the team
|
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Montreal Canadiens | 44 | 26 | 11 | 7 | 59 | 116 | 48 |
| Montreal Maroons | 44 | 24 | 14 | 6 | 54 | 96 | 77 |
| Ottawa Senators | 44 | 20 | 14 | 10 | 50 | 78 | 57 |
| Toronto Maple Leafs | 44 | 18 | 18 | 8 | 44 | 89 | 88 |
| New York Americans | 44 | 11 | 27 | 6 | 28 | 63 | 128 |
| # | SKATERS |
GP
Games played - Number of games the player has set foot on the ice
|
G
Goals - Number of goals the player has scored
|
A
Assists - Number of goals the player has assisted in
|
PTS
Points - Scoring points, calculated as the sum of G and A
|
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 7 | Howie Morenz | 43 | 33 | 18 | 51 |
| 4 | Aurèle Joliat | 44 | 28 | 11 | 39 |
| 6 | Art Gagné | 44 | 20 | 10 | 30 |
| 2 | Sylvio Mantha | 43 | 4 | 11 | 15 |
| 5 | Albert Leduc | 42 | 8 | 5 | 13 |
| # | #1 GOALIE |
GP
Games played - Number of games the player has set foot on the ice
|
RECORD
Record - Goalie record (W-L-T)
|
SO
Shutouts - Number of games where the goaltender has not allowed a goal
|
GAA
Goals against average - Mean goals-per-game scored on the goaltender
|
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | George Hainsworth | 44 | 26-11-7 | 13 | 1.05 |
| DATE | AWAY | HOME |
|---|
THE REGULAR SEASON
The 1927-28 NHL regular season belonged to the Montreal Canadiens almost from the outset. Forward passes were now permitted in the defensive and neutral zones, a rule change designed to stimulate scoring that no team exploited to greater effect than the Habs, who with 116 goals, outscored the rest of the league.
Howie Morenz, Aurele Joliat and Art Gagne all netted 20 or more, the first time three Canadiens accomplished the task in the same season. Morenz won the scoring race, leading the league in both goals and assists, and taking home the Hart Trophy as the league MVP after setting a new NHL single season points record.
Long-time linemate, Joliat, finished second, both on the team and in the league. His fuse was short as ever and the diminutive forward recorded a career high 105 penalty minutes.
Supported on defense by heavyweights Sylvio Mantha and “Battleship” Leduc, as well as wily veteran Herb Gardiner, goaltender George Hainsworth proved his rookie season was no fluke. He matched the previous year’s 13 shutouts and allowed only 48 goals over the 44-game schedule, reducing his goal-against average to a microscopic 1.05 and earning a second straight Vezina Trophy.
The Canadiens went undefeated from November 30 until January 21, a 19-game span during which they beat every team in the league, other than the Pittsburgh Pirates, at least once.
When the schedule came to an end, the Canadiens were atop the Canadian Division with 59 points and awaiting the outcome of the series between the Maroons and the Senators.
THE PLAYOFFS
Benefiting from a bye in the opening round of the playoffs by virtue of their first place finish, the Canadiens stood by as Forum stable mates, the Maroons, captured their total-goal series against the Ottawa Senators by a 3-1 margin. The win by the Maroons set up a replay of the previous spring’s postseason encounter between Montreal’s two NHL teams.
Despite pitting the NHL’s two top offenses against each other, the series between the Habs and Maroons was a low-scoring affair. Solid defense and goaltending once again trumped speed and superior scoring instincts. As was the case a year before, the opening match ended in a tie, though this time the teams were tied at two goals apiece. Neither Morenz nor Joliat made it onto the score sheet as the Maroons effectively shut down the NHL’s top line.
365 days after the last deciding game that featured these same teams, Montreal’s NHL squads once again played to a scoreless tie through three periods, needing overtime to settle the matter of who would go home and who would go on.
Eight minutes into the fourth frame, the Canadiens season came to an end with a Maroons marker that sent them through to the Stanley Cup Finals where they would extend the best-of-five series to the limit before falling to the New York Rangers.
| Semi-finals - Montreal Maroons | ||||
| Date | AWAY | HOME | ||
| March 31st, 1928 | MTL 2 | MAR 2 | ||
| April 3rd, 1928 | MAR 0 | MTL 0 | ||
| MTL Maroons won total-goals series 3-2 | ||||
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