Montreal Canadiens
GOTTA SEE IT: Canadiens Sean Farrell Scores First Career Goal

Montreal Canadiens forward Sean Farrell has started his NHL career in style.
Farrell scored during his very first shift on Bell Centre ice as the Canadiens faced the Florida Panthers. The goal was assisted by Jake Evans.
It’s not exactly what you’d call a highlight-reel goal, but they never ask how goals go in, just how many.
1er match à la maison, 1er but dans la LNH pour Sean!! 🚨
First of many for Farrell!#GoHabsGo pic.twitter.com/rWul24792x
— Canadiens Montréal (@CanadiensMTL) March 30, 2023
In this case, the goal will allow Farrell to rest easy, avoiding the type of stress that builds when a young player fails to score during his first few games in the league.
Farrell, 21, is coming off an excellent season with the Harvard Crimson of the NCAA. He was a Hobey Baker Top 10 finalist, led his team in scoring, and was the second-highest points-per-game producer in the entire country. Only 2023 top prospect Adam Fantilli produced more points per game than Farrell this season in the NCAA.
He scored 20 goals and 33 assists in just 34 games, pushing his NCAA totals to 30 goals and 51 assists in 58 career games.
Farrell did not register a point in his first game, which took place on Tuesday against the Philadelphia Flyers. He featured on a line with Jonathan Drouin and Denis Gurianov, which, to be perfectly fair, struggled to build any momentum. They controlled just 20 percent of the shots that night, however, it did allow Farrell to dip his toes in the icy waters of the NHL.
Playing alongside players like Brendan Gallagher and Evans, as he did when facing the Florida Panthers, suits Farrell’s style of play a little more, seeing as they’re likely to create time and space for the creative forward, which should allow him to generate additional high-danger scoring chances.
Farrell is more of a playmaker than a shooter, and the shot itself was nothing to write home about, but it was a well-deserved reward for a player who emerged as one of the Canadiens’ top prospects this season.
Congrats to the kid.
Here’s an interesting fact… Montreal leads the league with 126 combined points from rookies, well ahead of the next closest team by over 30 points. Pretty impressive, right? It is until you remember that Teemu Selanne had 132 points all by himself in his rookie season (or Gretzky’s 137). 😁
How about this for an article idea… What’s the top 5 seasons in Canadiens history based on combined points by rookies? 🤷🏻♂️My guess would be the 1985-86 Stanley Cup winning season. I know the rookies were integral to the playoffs for sure. What’s the most combined points by rookies on one team in NHL history? I’d be interested in reading that article.