There’s no hockey and there probably won’t be for a while. TSN Radio re-broadcasted the biggest comeback in Montreal Canadiens history on Tuesday night, and while that game is definitely memorable it happened in February.
There are a lot of Canadiens playoff memories in April over the last 10 or so years as well, but we’re in March right now and we could all use a little hockey to look at now.
This is not an exhaustive list, and it’s only from the recent past. I’m sure there were some incredible games in March earlier than 2012 (the earliest game on this list).
A scoring summary for the ages — March 22, 2016
W 4-3 vs Anaheim
The 2015-16 season was not a good one for the Montreal Canadiens, and in an era of disappointing results, that may be an understatement. I would be surprised if anyone remembers this game, which may defeat the purpose given the exercise but hear me out.
This game featured a goal and an assist from Mike Brown. It featured two assists from Joel Hanley. Lucas Lessio scored the game-winning goal. Torrey Mitchell opened the scoring. Mike Condon earned the win.
It sounds fascinating and when I was looking through game logs, this one stood out and deserved at least a passing mention.
Personal accomplishments
There were some memorable Canadiens moments from a personal standpoint. Starting March 20, 2011 when P.K. Subban scored a hat trick in an 8-1 win over Minnesota (fun fact: the goal against was on a penalty shot. Funner fact: Alex Auld was the Canadiens goaltender. Funnest fact: Jose Theodore started the game for the Wild.)
Brendan Gallagher has had a lot of great games, but he only had four points in a game once: March 30, 2017 against the Florida Panthers.
Erik Cole did something pretty remarkable on March 23, 2012. He scored three goals in the first 5:41 of the game. It ended up being a 5-1 win over the Ottawa Senators. That’s definitely something that deserves a high five…
Erik Cole high-fives the referee — March 14, 2012
W 3-2 vs Ottawa
Imagine scoring three goals in less than six minutes and that’s not even the most memorable thing you did in a single month against a single team?
Nine days before his hat trick, Cole opened the scoring for the Canadiens, and famously high fived the referee as he skated by. The lineup for the Canadiens featured Brad Staubitz, Frederic St-Denis, Blake Geoffrion, Louis Leblanc, Petteri Nokelainen, and Aaron Palushaj. They still won.
A classic in a classic rivalry — March 27, 2013
W 6-5 @ Boston
There are a lot of memorable Montreal-Boston games, both in history, and in recent memory. A lot of those have come in the playoffs, but this one is one that sticks out for me. I remember vividly that I was in Cuba for this game.
I remember following the game, I remember seeking out any sports channel that you got in Cuba (there weren’t many) to watch the highlights over and over again.
This was a battle for first place in the Northeast division, and the Boston crowd was in it. The Canadiens took a 2-0 lead early, but the Bruins came back with four straight goals, chasing Carey Price from the game.
Montreal got the game back within one goal, then Tyler Seguin and Brendan Gallagher traded goals seconds apart. That set the stage for Andrei Markov to score off of Zdeno Chara’s stick in the final seconds before Gallagher won it in a shootout.
I don’t know if this game is memorable for anyone else, but watch the highlights and it will make you miss hockey even more.
Beware the Ides of March — March 15, 2014
W 5-4 vs Ottawa
You knew this one would be in here. You know the story by now… Down 4-1 with under 3:30 to go, the Canadiens scored three goals (including one in the literal last second) and then Francis Bouillon scores the overtime winner.
It was what cemented the Canadiens-Senators rivalry that was dormant until the playoff series the year before which really stoked the fires.
There are so many great moments in this. I still can’t believe P.K. Subban didn’t shoot the puck before passing to David Desharnais but it was genius and worked to perfection. I still don’t know why there wasn’t a whistle in overtime (sorry Robin Lehner).
All that doesn’t matter. It was a great game, and the speed at which the comeback occurred made this a game no one will forget.
I know I left some out. Add yours in the comments below, or simply add your memories to the games above!
