The 2025-26 season has finally come to an end. The Habs only collected eight points in their last seven games after a perfect ten out of five game sequence. Although this is the only time they obtained less than 60% of the points since November, it is difficult to criticize their performance. There was the difficult schedule to finish this year, and the fact that they had clinched a playoff spot by Game 77.
So many individual and collective benchmarks/records were set this season, many dating back multiple decades since similar numbers were reached by the Habs. From Cole Caufield’s 50-goal mark, to Nick Suzuki’s 100-point mark, and the Habs’ 106-point mark, the season can be qualified as an all-around success.
Despite a tamer end of the season, the statistics remained excellent and bode well for the playoffs. Their goaltending was above a .900 SV% over the last 22 games, and the penalty kill only allowed one goal in the last nine games (on 22 occasions). On the other hand, the power play was struggling with only five goals in those nine games (on 34 opportunities). The silver lining is that as long as the combined penalty kill and power play percentage is greater than 100%, the team is net positive in special teams.
Advanced stats presented by NHL Edge are shown below. The numbers provide a very good indication of the team’s brand. The Habs are a fast team that has become better at offensive zone possession and can shoot from sharp angles successfully, yielding their second-best shooting percentage in the league at 12.9%. Their weakness is a lack of a powerful shooter on the blueline and their struggles to slow down opponents in the neutral zone, which offers more offensive zone possession to opponents.
Compared to last year, the Habs obtained 106 points, 15 points more than last year. They not only remained ahead of last year throughout the season, but also showed impressive consistency with no significant down spells compared to last year’s up-and-down season.
Looking forward to the playoffs, the Habs are ending the season strong in the most important categories. Goaltending is better than it’s been all season, they are quite healthy (despite Noah Dobson’s injury), and their top line is among the top three lines in the NHL in Goals For% (for lines with more than 300 minutes together). That said, the league-leading line (Cirelli-Hagel-Kucherov) will be their opponent starting Sunday in Tampa Bay.
Regardless of the playoff results, Montreal’s roster remains an incomplete project with still a few chairs to be given to more appropriate players. Nonetheless, they have positioned themselves as a top 10 team in the league, a perennial playoff team, and an upcoming cup Contender. Their ability to remain within the top three teams in the strongest division in the league is an excellent sign for future seasons.
The biggest question now is how they can translate that to playoff hockey. Fans can expect the Habs to progress the same way they have during their rebuild. They will need to gain experience over the years. This roster only has five games of playoff experience. Hopefully they can make this run longer in order to fast-track their experience for when they become a bona fide contender.