Matches decided by a goal: this year, the CH wins them (and that changes everything)

It has now been over a month since the Canadiens have been playing really well. In fact, they are currently the best team in the league (in terms of points percentage) for the past few weeks… and this is while the team was ranked 32nd in the overall standings back in November.

This is a turnaround that is as spectacular as it is unexpected.

To explain this success, pretty much everyone has received their due praise. The star players are performing well, the support forwards are contributing, Alexandre Carrier has solidified the blue line, Lane Hutson is phenomenal, Jakub Dobes is the reincarnation of Carey Price: pick your favorite from all of this.

However, there is something that isn’t talked about much, which was a point the team emphasized at the end of last season: games decided by one goal.

Because this year, the Canadiens are winning those games… and that changes everything. This even leads Serge Savard, who chatted with Marc de Foy (TVA Sports), to « wonder if the Habs’ success is really that impressive. »

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Savard’s point as a former defenseman and GM of the Canadiens is as follows: winning those games decided by one goal often indicates that a team is capable of finding ways to win.

And this year (especially since November 10, when the team had a record of 5-9-2), the Habs are quite good in this respect.

When looking at the Canadiens’ record in games decided by one goal, we see that it stands at 10-2-4. At the same time last year, it was 14-6-7.

All of this allows us to see two things: the team is playing fewer very close games (before, it was because they were getting dominated, but now it’s because they can be more dominant), and most importantly, it shows that they are winning those games with much more regularity.

Last year, at the end of the season, the Tricolore’s record in those one-goal games was 17-11-16. We recall that at the end of last season, the team emphasized the importance of winning those games more regularly, as they could very well have been much closer to the playoffs if they had been able to turn some overtime losses into wins.

But most importantly, what all of this indicates is that right now, the Canadiens are able to win close games… and unlike in previous years, the fact that they are playing fewer of them (and still continue to win) shows that they don’t always need to be saved by their goaltender. This too is something we haven’t seen in a long time in Montreal.

In brief

– No surprise here.

– Joseph Woll will face the Canadiens tonight.

– Things are going well for hockey in the Montreal area.

– The defensive impact of Alexandre Carrier with the Canadiens in numbers.

– A good read.