2010–11 Montreal Canadiens season

The 2010–11 Montreal Canadiens season was the franchise's 102nd overall season and its 94th since joining the National Hockey League (NHL). The Canadiens finished sixth overall in the Eastern Conference before losing to the eventual Stanley Cup champions, the Boston Bruins, in the Eastern Conference Quarterfinals of the 2011 Stanley Cup playoffs.

Off-season
On September 29, 2010, the Canadiens named forward Brian Gionta team captain.

Regular season
The Canadiens opened their season with a road game against long-time rival Toronto Maple Leafs on October 7. The home opener was on October 13 against the Tampa Bay Lightning.

The Canadiens were the most penalized team in the league with 327 power-play opportunities against.

Regular season

 * Legend:

Playoffs
On April 5, 2011, the Canadiens qualified for the 2011 Stanley Cup playoffs with a 2–1 overtime victory against the Chicago Blackhawks. On April 9, 2011, it was determined that the Canadiens would play the Boston Bruins in the first round of the playoffs.

The Boston Bruins entered the playoffs as the third seed in the Eastern Conference after winning the Northeast Division with 103 points. The Montreal Canadiens earned the sixth seed with 96 points, winning the tiebreaker over Buffalo in regulation + overtime wins (41 to 38). One of the greatest rivalries in North American professional sports, this was the 33rd meeting of these teams in the postseason, which is the most frequent playoff series in NHL history. Montreal had a record of 24–8 against Boston in the 32 previous series played by the franchises, winning 18 straight between 1946 and 1987. Boston had only beaten Montreal en route to winning the championship once before, in 1929. The most recent meeting of these teams in the postseason was in the 2009 Eastern Conference quarterfinals, which ended with Boston sweeping Montreal.

In this series, the Boston Bruins dropped their first two games at home, but came back to hang on to a game three victory in Montreal. In game four, Andrei Kostitsyn gave the Montreal Canadiens a 3–1 lead, which they couldn't take advantage of, falling 5–4 on an overtime goal by former Montreal Canadien Michael Ryder. In game five, Boston's Ryder made a miraculous glove save while teammate and goaltender Tim Thomas was out of position, and the contest went into double overtime for Nathan Horton to win it 2–1 for Boston. In game six, Montreal scored twice on 5-on-3 power plays and won it 2–1. Game seven was also forced into overtime, where Nathan Horton again won the game 4–3 and sent the Bruins to the second round of the playoffs. Boston became the first team to win a seven-game post-season series despite being held scoreless on the power play.

On April 10, the scheduled date of the French-language Canadian federal election debate between party leaders was changed from April 14 to April 13 so it would not conflict with game one of the series. Games six and seven were played back-to-back due to a Lady Gaga concert, held on April 25 at the Bell Centre, and the requirement that the first round of the playoffs end by April 27.

This was Montreal's first Game 7 loss since 1994, also against the Bruins, and their last to date.


 * Legend:

Skaters
Note: GP = Games played; G = Goals; A = Assists; Pts = Points; +/− = Plus/minus; PIM = Penalty minutes

Goaltenders
Note: GP = Games played; TOI = Time on ice (minutes); W = Wins; L = Losses; OT = Overtime losses; GA = Goals against; GAA= Goals against average; SA= Shots against; SV= Saves; Sv% = Save percentage; SO= Shutouts

†Denotes player spent time with another team before joining Canadiens. Stats reflect time with Canadiens only.

‡Traded mid-season. Stats reflect time with Canadiens only.

Transactions
The Canadiens have been involved in the following transactions during the 2010–11 season.

Draft picks
Montreal's picks at the 2010 NHL Entry Draft in Los Angeles, California.

Hamilton Bulldogs
The Hamilton Bulldogs remain Montreal's top affiliate in the American Hockey League in 2010–11.

Wheeling Nailers
Montreal signed an affiliation agreement with the Wheeling Nailers of the ECHL for 2010–11, succeeding the Cincinnati Cyclones.