Today In Habs History: April 26th

The first moment was the night that Ken Dryden became just the 4th goaltender in NHL history to record 50 postseason victories on April 26th, 1977. Dryden helped lead the Habs to a 3-0 victory by making 19 saves to record a shutout in Game 2 of their semifinals series against the New York Islanders. While the moment was mainly for Dryden’s victory, he had a ton of help from the players in front of him that allowed him to have an easy shutout for the win.

The goal scorers for the Canadiens on the night were depth forward Jommy Roberts, Hall-of-Fame defenseman Larry Robinson, and star centre Pete Mahovlich as they came away with an easy victory. Despite it being an easy win for the Habs on April 26th, the Islanders would be the only team to win a game during those playoffs against the Canadiens as they forced them to a 6-game series. The Habs would later go on to win their 20th Stanley Cup by sweeping the Bruins in the Finals for the Habs’ most dominant season in team history.

The 2nd moment is why tonight has the chance to be a historical moment too, as on April 26th, 2010, it was the night that Jaroslav Halak had his historic 53-save performance in Game 6 of the Canadiens’ first-round series against the Washington Capitals in a 4-1 win. Halak’s performance became the 4th most saves that a Habs goaltender made in a single playoff game, behind Patrick Roy’s 60 in 1994, Dryden’s 56 in 1971, and Theodore’s 56 in 1997. Even though it wasn’t the most saves in a playoff game by a Canadiens netminder, it was a special game that many fans like myself remember, as it was part of how Halak stole two series during the 2010 NHL playoffs. However, this game was his best performance of all throughout the run.

In fact, the game as a whole pretty much represented who the stars were in that run, as along with Halak’s dominant performance, sniper Mike Cammalleri scored 2 of his team-leading 13 playoff goals on the night. Meanwhile, Max Lapierre and Tomas Plekanec got the two other goals on the night. Even though the Habs didn’t make the Stanley Cup Finals, Cammalleri would end up leading the entire playoffs in goals. The Canadiens went on to lose in the Eastern Conference Finals to the Philadelphia Flyers in 2010, but that run was one of the most memorable Habs moments of my childhood.

The reason that tonight could bring history is because it’s very possible that Jakub Dobes has a performance like Halak did in 2010, given just how he gives off the same vibes as the Slovakian netminder. Tonight should be a good game, and if history is made, it’s possible it goes down as a game people remember forever.