Canadiens standings: Habs in the Atlantic and the playoff race

As of November 11, 2026, with games through November 10 counted, the Montreal Canadiens are second in the Atlantic Division and third in the Eastern Conference. They are 11-3-4 after 18 games, with 26 points, one behind Boston for first in the division. Below are the Atlantic Division table, the Eastern Conference playoff picture, and how NHL points, tiebreakers and playoff spots work.

Canadiens standings as of November 11, 2026

• Record: 11 wins, 3 regulation losses, 4 overtime or shootout losses (11-3-4).
• Points: 26 in 18 games, a points percentage of .722.
• Division: 2nd in the Atlantic, one point behind Boston (27 points in 18 games).
• Conference: 3rd in the East, behind Carolina (30) and Boston.
• Goals: 62 for and 55 against, a differential of +7.
• Home and road: 5-2-3 at the Bell Centre, 6-1-1 on the road.
• Last 10 games: 7-0-3, with no regulation loss since October 14.
• Streak: one overtime loss, 2-1 to Minnesota on November 10.

Atlantic Division standings

GP is games played, OTL overtime and shootout losses, P% points percentage, RW regulation wins, GF goals for, GA goals against.

The top of the division is tight. Tampa Bay has 24 points but has played one game fewer than Montreal, and its .706 points percentage is close to Montreal's .722. Ottawa also has 24 points, in 19 games.

Eastern Conference playoff picture

If the season ended on November 10, these teams would hold the eight Eastern playoff spots:

Washington has played only 16 games, the fewest in the East, so its 20 points can grow faster than Florida's 22 in 19 games. That is why points percentage matters early in the season.

How NHL standings points work

Every win is worth two points, whether it comes in regulation, overtime or a shootout. A loss in overtime or a shootout gives the losing team one point. A regulation loss gives zero. That single point matters for the Canadiens: they have only three regulation losses, but four more games were lost in overtime or a shootout, each worth one point instead of two. Boston leads them by a point because it has two more wins.

Teams are ranked by points. Because teams play different numbers of games at any moment, look at points percentage (points earned divided by points available) to compare teams with games in hand.

NHL tiebreakers

When two or more teams finish level on points, the NHL breaks the tie in this order:

1. Fewer games played, which means a better points percentage.
2. More regulation wins (RW).
3. More wins excluding shootout wins.
4. More total wins.
5. More points in games between the tied teams.
6. Better goal differential over the season.
7. More goals scored over the season.

In the standings, a shootout win counts as one goal for and a shootout loss as one goal against.

Regulation wins are the Canadiens' soft spot. Only 7 of their 11 wins came in regulation; two came in a shootout and two in overtime. Boston has 10 regulation wins and Tampa Bay and Ottawa 9 each. If Montreal finishes level on points with one of them, the second tiebreaker could go against the Habs.

It has happened before. In 2025-26, the Canadiens finished third in the Atlantic with 106 points, tied with Tampa Bay, which took second place on regulation wins.

How the NHL playoff format works

Sixteen teams make the Stanley Cup playoffs, eight in each conference. The top three teams in each division qualify, and two wild cards in each conference go to the next two teams with the most points, whatever their division. In the first round, the division winner with the best record plays the lower-seeded wild card, the other division winner plays the other wild card, and the second- and third-place teams in each division play each other.

For the Canadiens, that means the simplest route is a top-three finish in the Atlantic. Finishing second or third sets up a first-round series against a division rival, as in 2026, when Montreal beat Tampa Bay in seven games.

What the Canadiens did last season

The 2025-26 Canadiens finished with 106 points and third place in the Atlantic. In the playoffs they beat Tampa Bay in seven games and Buffalo in seven games, then lost the Eastern Conference Final to Carolina, 4-1. Carolina went on to win the Stanley Cup against Vegas, 4-2.

Reading the standings if you bet

At their current rate of 26 points in 18 games, the Canadiens would finish with about 121 points over 84 games. Early-season paces rarely hold, so treat that number as a snapshot, not a forecast. Two numbers say more about what comes next:

• Goal differential. Montreal is +7, against +27 for Boston and +10 for Tampa Bay. A team winning many one-goal and overtime games with a small differential has less margin if those close games start going the other way.
• Schedule ahead. Of the 66 games left, 32 are at home. The full list, with start times and TV, is in our Canadiens schedule.

Standings feed directly into futures bets such as division winner or making the playoffs. Our Habs betting guide explains how those markets and the puck line work, and our PWHL standings page does the same job for the Montréal Victoire.

Futures tie up your money for months. Set a budget for the season, and if betting stops being fun, our responsible gambling page explains breaks and self-exclusion. Jeu: aide et référence is free and confidential at 1 800 461-0140.

Sources

• NHL, standings (official NHL standings feed, standings date November 10, 2026)
• NHL.com, standings
• NHL.com, tie-breaking procedure
• NHL.com, Seattle Kraken: Standings Tall, how NHL points work (January 5, 2020)
• NHL, Canadiens 2026-27 club schedule (official NHL schedule feed)
• Wikipedia, 2026 Stanley Cup playoffs (format, Canadiens 2025-26 finish and playoff run)