Behind new star goalie Ken Dryden the team won their 17th Stanley Cup championship.
With the Chicago Black Hawks having moved to the West Division to make way for the expansion Vancouver Canucks and Buffalo Sabres, qualification for the four available playoff berths in the East was widely expected to be contested between the five remaining Original Six teams.
Considering such factors the addition of two new teams, the expansion of the schedule to 78 games and the switch to a balanced schedule, Montreal's record of 42–23–13 (five points more than their performance over 76 games the previous season) was at best a marginal improvement.
On February 11, 1971, Jean Beliveau became the fourth player to score 500 career goals.
Brothers Frank and Peter Mahovlich starred for the Canadiens, scoring nine goals in the seven game final series.