1997–98 Montreal Canadiens season
The 1997–98 Montreal Canadiens season was the club's 89th season of play. The Canadiens made the playoffs and advanced to the Conference semi-final after winning 4 games to 2 in Conference quarter-final against the Pittsburgh Penguins, their first playoff series win since the 1992-93 Stanley Cup title year. However, in the semi-final, they were swept in four games by the Buffalo Sabres.
Offseason
Regular season
Final standings
Schedule and results
Playoffs
Eastern Conference Quarter-finals;Montreal vs. Pittsburgh
| Date | Home | Score | Visitor | Record |
| April 23 | Pittsburgh | 3-2 | Montreal | 1 - 0 |
| April 25 | Pittsburgh | 1-4 | Montreal | 1 - 1 |
| April 27 | Montreal | 3-1 | Pittsburgh | 2 - 1 |
| April 29 | Montreal | 3-6 | Pittsburgh | 2 - 2 |
| May 1 | Pittsburgh | 2 - 5 | Montreal | 3 - 2 |
| May 3 | Montreal | 3 - 0 | Pittsburgh | 4 - 2 |
'Eastern Conference Semi-finals
;Montreal vs. Buffalo
| Date | Home | Score | Visitor | Record |
| May 8 | Buffalo | 3 - 2 | Montreal | 1 - 0 |
| May 10 | Buffalo | 6 - 3 | Montreal | 2 - 0 |
| May 12 | Montreal | 4 - 5 | Buffalo | 0 - 3 |
| May 14 | Montreal | 1 - 3 | Buffalo | 0 - 4 |
Player statistics
Regular season
;Scoring| Player | Pos | GP | G | A | Pts | PIM | +/- | PPG | SHG | GWG |
| RW | 82 | 32 | 42 | 74 | 51 | 11 | 9 | 1 | 6 | |
| C | 76 | 18 | 41 | 59 | 58 | 14 | 2 | 1 | 5 | |
| C | 69 | 14 | 43 | 57 | 48 | 8 | 2 | 2 | 3 | |
| LW | 62 | 21 | 34 | 55 | 108 | 2 | 14 | 1 | 1 | |
| LW | 78 | 21 | 32 | 53 | 84 | 13 | 5 | 3 | 3 | |
| D | 74 | 13 | 31 | 44 | 70 | 16 | 8 | 0 | 2 | |
| LW | 64 | 26 | 17 | 43 | 36 | 11 | 8 | 0 | 7 | |
| D | 79 | 10 | 27 | 37 | 67 | 16 | 5 | 0 | 1 | |
| D | 81 | 4 | 30 | 34 | 122 | 22 | 2 | 0 | 0 | |
| LW | 68 | 12 | 20 | 32 | 61 | 11 | 1 | 2 | 2 | |
| RW | 50 | 7 | 22 | 29 | 33 | -5 | 2 | 0 | 1 | |
| C | 74 | 13 | 6 | 19 | 12 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | |
| D | 71 | 6 | 10 | 16 | 97 | 13 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| LW | 67 | 6 | 9 | 15 | 158 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | |
| C | 53 | 6 | 8 | 14 | 36 | 5 | 2 | 1 | 0 | |
| LW | 28 | 6 | 5 | 11 | 6 | 2 | 4 | 0 | 0 | |
| C | 34 | 4 | 6 | 10 | 8 | -1 | 0 | 1 | 1 | |
| RW | 63 | 4 | 6 | 10 | 110 | -8 | 1 | 0 | 0 | |
| RW | 14 | 5 | 4 | 9 | 5 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 0 | |
| D | 69 | 2 | 6 | 8 | 38 | -6 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| RW | 39 | 1 | 5 | 6 | 57 | -6 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| D | 28 | 1 | 5 | 6 | 22 | -1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | |
| D | 61 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 93 | -3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| G | 47 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| D | 41 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 20 | -3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| C | 9 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | -3 | 0 | 0 | 1 | |
| D | 5 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 4 | -1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | |
| D | 4 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 12 | -2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| D | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| D | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| C | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | -1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| RW | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | -1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| G | 42 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| LW | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 31 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| RW | 22 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 76 | -4 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
;Goaltending
| Player | MIN | GP | W | L | T | GA | GAA | SO | SA | SV | SV% |
| 2652 | 47 | 19 | 15 | 8 | 109 | 2.47 | 2 | 1109 | 1000 | .902 | |
| 2337 | 42 | 18 | 17 | 5 | 97 | 2.49 | 3 | 1024 | 927 | .905 | |
| Team: | 4989 | 82 | 37 | 32 | 13 | 206 | 2.48 | 5 | 2133 | 1927 | .903 |
Playoffs
;Scoring| Player | Pos | GP | G | A | Pts | PIM | PPG | SHG | GWG |
| RW | 10 | 4 | 8 | 12 | 6 | 0 | 0 | 2 | |
| LW | 10 | 3 | 6 | 9 | 26 | 1 | 0 | 1 | |
| C | 10 | 3 | 6 | 9 | 22 | 1 | 0 | 0 | |
| D | 9 | 3 | 4 | 7 | 10 | 2 | 0 | 0 | |
| RW | 10 | 3 | 4 | 7 | 12 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| C | 6 | 2 | 3 | 5 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | |
| D | 10 | 1 | 4 | 5 | 12 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| LW | 10 | 3 | 0 | 3 | 4 | 1 | 0 | 0 | |
| C | 10 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 6 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| LW | 10 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| D | 10 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| D | 9 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| LW | 9 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 6 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| LW | 9 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 10 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| D | 10 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| LW | 8 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 1 | |
| D | 10 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 14 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| G | 2 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| D | 6 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| C | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| G | 9 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| C | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| D | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| G | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| RW | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
;Goaltending
| Player | MIN | GP | W | L | GA | GAA | SO | SA | SV | SV% |
| 474 | 9 | 4 | 5 | 24 | 3.04 | 1 | 204 | 180 | .882 | |
| 120 | 3 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0.50 | 0 | 35 | 34 | .971 | |
| 43 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 5.58 | 0 | 16 | 12 | .750 | |
| Team: | 637 | 10 | 4 | 6 | 29 | 2.73 | 1 | 255 | 226 | .886 |
Awards and records
Transactions
Roster
Draft picks
Montreal's draft picks at the 1997 NHL Entry Draft held at the Civic Arena in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.| Round | # | Player | Nationality | College/Junior/Club Team |
| 1 | 11 | Jason Ward | Erie Otters | |
| 2 | 37 | Gregor Baumgartner | Laval Titan College Francais | |
| 3 | 65 | Ilkka Mikkola | Karpat | |
| 4 | 91 | Daniel Tetrault | Brandon Wheat Kings | |
| 5 | 118 | Konstantin Sidulov | Mechel Chelyabinsk | |
| 5 | 122 | Gennady Razin | Kamloops Blazers | |
| 6 | 145 | Jonathan Desroches | Granby Predateurs | |
| 7 | 172 | Ben Guite | University of Maine | |
| 8 | 197 | Petr Kubos | Petra Vsetin | |
| 8 | 202 | Andrei Sidyakin | Salavat Yulaev Ufa | |
| 9 | 228 | Jarl-Espen Ygranes | Furuset |