The Montreal Canadiens are set to play their first game in the month of November tonight as they host the Winnipeg Jets at the Bell Centre for a 7 pm ET puck drop. Not only is it the club's first game in November, it's also the first time they'll wear their Hometown Remix jerseys, which were officially unveiled by the National Hockey League and Fanatics on Monday.
It was a bit of a rollercoaster of a start to the 2026-27 season, with the Canadiens forced to deal with a number of injuries including to key players such as captain Nick Suzuki, forward Ivan Demidov and defenseman Mike Matheson, all of whom remain on the sidelines as the calendar flipped to November.
However, it wasn't all bad news for the Montreal Canadiens over the first month of the season as they finished the month of October with a five-game winning streak, which they'll look to extend tonight against a Jets team that's dropped nine in row, including the 2026 Heritage Classic against the Habs back on October 25th.
Today, we're going to take a deeper look at the first month of Montreal's 2026-27 season, assess where they are heading into tonight's game and crown our Canadiens MVP for September/October.
Montreal Canadiens 2026-27 Season: September/October Review
With the National Hockey League expanding the regular season schedule to 84 games from 82, the 2026-27 campaign began on Tuesday, September 29th. The last time the NHL opened a season in September was in 2007-08 when the Los Angeles Kings and Anaheim Ducks played a pair of games in London, England.
As is the case every season, the Montreal Canadiens opened up things up against their longtime rivals, the Toronto Maple Leafs. Jakub Dobes got the start in goal that night and played quite well, stopping 26 of 28 shots he saw as the Canadiens defeated the Maple Leafs of 3-2.
After their game in Toronto, the Canadiens headed to Pittsburgh to face Sidney Crosby and the Penguins for their home opener. Montreal didn't get off on the right foot in the first 40 minutes and thanks to a four-goal second period, Pittsburgh took a 5-2 lead to the dressing room. The Canadiens battled back however, scoring three times in the third period, including two with under 1:10 remaining in the frame to tie the game and force overtime. Less than two minutes into OT, the Penguins found the back of the net to take the game 6-5.
With three of a possible four points under their belt to start the year, Martin St. Louis' group returned to Montreal for a four-game homestand including the club's home opener on Tuesday, October 6th against the Carolina Hurricanes, a rematch of of last season's Eastern Conference Final. Montreal dropped their home opener by a score of 6-4 and also fell to the Nashville Predators two days later. The Canadiens managed to salvage their homestand with back-to-back shootout wins against the Detroit Red Wings and Buffalo Sabres, respectively.
One day after their win over the Sabres, the Canadiens took a quick trip to D.C. to take on Alexander Ovechkin and the Washington Capitals. The Capitals were arguably the most aggressive team in the offseason as they looked to beef up their forward group for a potential Stanley Cup run in what is Alexander Ovechkin's final season in the National Hockey League. Two of Washington's biggest offseason additions, Alex Tuch and Jordan Kyrou, both got on the board and led the Capitals to a 5-4 win.
Following the loss in Washington, the Canadiens turned to Jacob Fowler, who would go on to start five of the next seven games, with Jakub Dobes only getting in between the pipes at home vs San Jose and for the finale of their four-game road trip on October 29th against the Dallas Stars. That decision by Martin St. Louis and the Canadiens' coaching staff was a very smart one as Fowler has led Montreal to six wins in his last six starts.
Jacob Fowler stood on his head throughout the road trip, allowing just two goals in three games. He stopped 33 of 34 shots he faced in the 2026 Heritage Classic in Winnipeg and just two days later, entered Canadiens history with a 46-save shutout against the St. Louis Blues. It was the third-most saves made in a shutout in Montreal Canadiens history, just behind Jacques Plante (52 saves in Nov. 1955) and Samuel Montembeault (48 saves in Oct. 2024). Fowler also become the third goaltender in franchise history under the age of 21 to win six straight games.
As mentioned, the Canadiens are currently on a six-game winning streak with victories coming against the Chicago Blackhawks, Winnipeg Jets, St. Louis Blues, Dallas Stars and Pittsburgh Penguins. Those six wins have helped the Canadiens climb the standings in a very tight Atlantic Division and as of Tuesday morning, they sit second with a 9-3-2 record (20 points) through 14 games. Ahead of Montreal sits their Original Six rivals, the Boston Bruins, who have a three-point lead on the Canadiens. Montreal and Boston are set to meet at TD Garden on Thursday, November 12th.
That brings us to out Most Valuable Player (MVP) for the first month of the Montreal Canadiens' 2026-27 season. It shouldn't surprise anyone that it goes to rookie goaltender Jacob Fowler. Fowler finished the month with a 7-1-0 record in eight games, along with a 1.84 goals against average, a .932 save percentage and two shutouts. For his efforts, the National Hockey League named Jacob Fowler as their Rookie of the Month for October.
A Brief Look at November's Schedule
What the Canadiens have been able to do, especially over the last couple of weeks, without Ivan Demidov and Nick Suzuki has been remarkable. A lot of that has to do with Jacob Fowler's play, but overall, the group is starting to gel a bit better and in turn, are giving themselves a chance to win every since night.
Montreal faces some tough challenges throughout the month of November, including games against three of the four current division leaders - Minnesota (November 10th), Boston (November 12th) and Carolina (November 19th). The Canadiens will also face Nathan MacKinnon and the Colorado Avalanche twice in November, including on November 23rd, which kicks off a three-game road trip to Denver, Vegas and Utah.