Montreal Canadiens 2024-25 Schedule Highlights: October

The Montreal Canadiens will begin the 2024-25 season at home on October 9 against their Original Six rival, the Toronto Maple Leafs.

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After missing out on the playoffs for the past three seasons, there's a renewed sense of optimism surrounding this year's club, especially with the addition of former 40-goal scorer Patrik Laine.

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In October, the Canadiens will play 11 times, with eight games at the Bell Centre and three on the road. Here are three games that fans should look forward to in the season's first 22 days.

3. October 22 vs. New York Rangers (Bell Centre)

Last season, the New York Rangers won the Presidents' Trophy as the NHL's best team. Yet, every time the Blueshirts met the Canadiens, the games were entertaining, intense, and high-scoring, including a thrilling 4-3 Montreal shootout win on January 6.

Neither team underwent a drastic overhaul in the offseason, so expect the kids like Juraj Slafkovsky and Kaiden Guhle to be better and present more of a challenge to a veteran team that came within a few wins of reaching the Stanley Cup Final.

Despite New York taking the season series 2-0-1, Montreal kept pace with their rivals, getting outscored by only five goals, 15-10, in those contests.

2. October 14 vs. Pittsburgh Penguins (Bell Centre)

Anytime Sidney Crosby skates at the Bell Centre, it's one of the schedule's highlights. The native of Cole Harbour, Nova Scotia, has deep ties with the organization, as his dad Troy was a goalie drafted by the Canadiens in 1984.

In an alternate universe, Montreal fans would love to see Crosby skate in their iconic sweater, but for now, they must continue watching him dominate the team he grew up watching, with 64 points in 49 games.

During the 2023-24 season, the Penguins and Canadiens missed the playoffs, even though Pittsburgh swept the three meetings, including a classic 12-round shootout win (4-3) on December 13. A month later, they snuck away with an overtime win (3-2) before securing the only non-one-goal victory (4-1) of the year in February.

1. October 9 vs. Toronto Maple Leafs (Bell Centre)

The Canadiens will begin their season against the Maple Leafs for the fifth consecutive year.

Although these two long-time rivals have played memorable games over the past century, not many were as exciting and heartbreaking as the 6-5 shootout loss to begin the 2023-24 season.

Auston Matthew's quest for 70 goals began that night with a hat trick that rallied the Maple Leafs to force overtime, where Mitch Marner eventually scored the lone goal in the shootout for the win.

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Unfortunately, Montreal would drop the other contests against Toronto, getting outscored 13-9 on the year. But it's a new campaign and a clean slate, meaning the Canadiens have a chance to avenge some previous losses.

The matchup hasn't been close since the last time these two teams met in the 2020-21 playoffs. The Maple Leafs hold a comfortable 7-3-1 lead in regular season meets, but the boxscores are closer, 38-30, in favor of the Ontario team.

What other games are you looking forward to in October? Let us know in the comments.

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