1978–79 Montreal Canadiens season
The 1978–79 Montreal Canadiens season was the club's 70th season. The franchise won 52 games and had 11 ties, but finished second overall in the league. The New York Islanders finished first overall by one point over the Canadiens. The Canadiens won the Stanley Cup for the fourth consecutive time, the 15th time in the past 24 seasons, and their 22nd overall. The Canadiens won the Stanley Cup on home ice for the first time since 1968.
Offseason
Regular season
Season standings
Schedule and results
Playoffs
Player statistics
Regular season
;Scoring| Player | Pos | GP | G | A | Pts | PIM | +/- | PPG | SHG | GWG |
| RW | 80 | 52 | 77 | 129 | 28 | 56 | 13 | 0 | 12 | |
| LW | 72 | 37 | 40 | 77 | 31 | 37 | 10 | 0 | 6 | |
| C | 77 | 31 | 41 | 72 | 26 | 59 | 6 | 1 | 7 | |
| LW | 79 | 26 | 40 | 66 | 26 | 30 | 5 | 1 | 7 | |
| D | 67 | 16 | 45 | 61 | 33 | 50 | 4 | 0 | 1 | |
| RW | 76 | 30 | 29 | 59 | 74 | 23 | 3 | 0 | 4 | |
| C | 50 | 24 | 31 | 55 | 10 | 9 | 6 | 1 | 4 | |
| D | 69 | 13 | 42 | 55 | 43 | 27 | 6 | 0 | 1 | |
| W | 66 | 17 | 34 | 51 | 43 | 16 | 6 | 0 | 4 | |
| LW | 79 | 20 | 18 | 38 | 44 | 11 | 1 | 1 | 1 | |
| D | 80 | 7 | 26 | 33 | 30 | 46 | 1 | 2 | 0 | |
| RW | 54 | 11 | 20 | 31 | 11 | 17 | 2 | 0 | 0 | |
| C | 48 | 10 | 15 | 25 | 62 | 22 | 0 | 0 | 2 | |
| C | 80 | 10 | 13 | 23 | 16 | 5 | 0 | 1 | 1 | |
| C | 36 | 9 | 13 | 22 | 4 | 3 | 4 | 0 | 0 | |
| RW | 41 | 9 | 8 | 17 | 22 | 7 | 1 | 0 | 1 | |
| D/RW | 62 | 5 | 11 | 16 | 29 | 14 | 0 | 0 | 1 | |
| D | 62 | 3 | 11 | 14 | 60 | 21 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| D | 72 | 1 | 9 | 10 | 124 | 33 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| D | 45 | 3 | 4 | 7 | 30 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| RW | 15 | 2 | 5 | 7 | 2 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| RW | 23 | 1 | 3 | 4 | 39 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| G | 47 | 0 | 3 | 3 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| G | 34 | 0 | 3 | 3 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| LW | 16 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 4 | -1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| RW | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
;Goaltending
| Player | MIN | GP | W | L | T | GA | GAA | SO |
| 2814 | 47 | 30 | 10 | 7 | 108 | 2.30 | 5 | |
| 1986 | 34 | 22 | 7 | 4 | 94 | 2.84 | 3 | |
| Team: | 4800 | 80 | 52 | 17 | 11 | 202 | 2.52 | 8 |
Playoffs
;Scoring| Player | Pos | GP | G | A | Pts | PIM | PPG | SHG | GWG |
| C | 16 | 11 | 12 | 23 | 6 | 6 | 0 | 2 | |
| RW | 16 | 10 | 13 | 23 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 2 | |
| LW | 16 | 6 | 10 | 16 | 10 | 0 | 0 | 1 | |
| D | 16 | 6 | 9 | 15 | 8 | 1 | 0 | 1 | |
| LW | 16 | 5 | 6 | 11 | 16 | 2 | 0 | 1 | |
| LW | 11 | 4 | 7 | 11 | 6 | 1 | 0 | 0 | |
| C | 16 | 3 | 6 | 9 | 4 | 1 | 0 | 0 | |
| D | 16 | 2 | 7 | 9 | 6 | 1 | 0 | 1 | |
| D | 10 | 2 | 6 | 8 | 10 | 1 | 0 | 0 | |
| RW | 13 | 3 | 4 | 7 | 13 | 0 | 0 | 1 | |
| C | 15 | 1 | 6 | 7 | 32 | 0 | 0 | 1 | |
| W | 7 | 1 | 5 | 6 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| RW | 12 | 3 | 2 | 5 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| C | 12 | 1 | 3 | 4 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| C | 6 | 1 | 3 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | |
| D/RW | 16 | 2 | 1 | 3 | 24 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| RW | 8 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| G | 16 | 0 | 3 | 3 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| RW | 8 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | |
| D | 16 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 11 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| D | 8 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 16 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| G | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| D | 13 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
;Goaltending
| Player | MIN | GP | W | L | GA | GAA | SO |
| 990 | 16 | 12 | 4 | 41 | 2.48 | 0 | |
| 20 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0.00 | 0 | |
| Team: | 1010 | 16 | 12 | 4 | 41 | 2.44 | 0 |
Roster
ForwardsDefenseman
Goalies
Awards and records
- Prince of Wales Trophy
- Ken Dryden and Michel Larocque, Vezina Trophy
- Bob Gainey, Conn Smythe Trophy
- Bob Gainey, Selke Trophy
- Guy Lafleur, Runner-Up, Hart Memorial Trophy
- Serge Savard, Bill Masterton Memorial Trophy
Transactions
Draft picks
Montreal's draft picks at the 1978 NHL Amateur Draft held at the Queen Elizabeth Hotel in Montreal, Quebec.| Round | # | Player | Nationality | College/Junior/Club Team |
| 1 | 8 | Dan Geoffrion | Cornwall Royals | |
| 1 | 17 | Dave Hunter | Sudbury Wolves | |
| 2 | 30 | Dale Yakiwchuk | Portland Winterhawks | |
| 2 | 36 | Ron Carter | Sherbrooke Castors | |
| 3 | 42 | Richard David | Trois-Rivieres Draveurs | |
| 4 | 69 | Kevin Reeves | Montreal Juniors | |
| 5 | 86 | Mike Boyd | Sault Ste. Marie Greyhounds | |
| 6 | 103 | Keith Acton | Peterborough Petes | |
| 7 | 120 | Jim Lawson | Brown University | |
| 8 | 137 | Larry Landon | Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute | |
| 9 | 154 | Kevin Constantine | Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute | |
| 10 | 171 | John Swan | McGill University | |
| 11 | 186 | Daniel Metivier | Hull Olympiques | |
| 12 | 201 | Viacheslav Fetisov | CSKA Moscow | |
| 13 | 212 | Jeff Mars | University of Michigan | |
| 14 | 222 | Greg Tignanelli | Northern Michigan University | |
| 15 | 225 | George Goulakos | St. Lawrence University | |
| 16 | 227 | Ken Moodie | Colgate University | |
| 17 | 229 | Serge LeBlanc | University of Vermont | |
| 18 | 230 | Bob Magnuson | Merrimack College | |
| 19 | 231 | Chris Nilan | Northeastern University | |
| 20 | 232 | Rick Wilson | St. Lawrence University | |
| 21 | 233 | Louis Sleigher | Chicoutimi Sagueneens | |
| 22 | 234 | Douglas Robb | Billings Bighorns |