The Canadiens' eighth consecutive win upped their record to a league-best 9-0-1 (19 points) on the year, which represents the best start to a regular season in franchise history through 10 games. That surpassed the mark of 18 points that was originally set in 1943-44 and matched last season as well.
It also marked the fourth time in franchise history that a Canadiens team went undefeated in regulation time through the first 10 games of the year, a feat that was previously accomplished in 1943-44, 1972-73 and again in 1981-82.
Following Wednesday night's win, though, setting a brand new franchise record and matching another was the last thing Therrien's troops were focused on after being completely outplayed through the first half of the game.
"We didn't execute and then we found ourselves chasing it. We wanted to make more plays. It's something that we've worked on, but when the opportunity came, we weren't executing well. When we tried to hit the middle, it seemed like pucks were bouncing off sticks and it definitely was far from a perfect game," said captain Max Pacioretty, referencing the Canadiens' struggles to generate much of anything before Beaulieu snapped a 52-game goalless drought at 12:22 of the middle frame, which ultimately proved to be the game-winner.
"You take it, you move on and you try to get better. We've been talking for a couple of days now about wanting to get better - and until the end of the game, for the most part, it was a poor effort and very, very poor execution. We have to play much, much better than that," added Pacioretty, clearly disappointed with the Canadiens' overall performance against Vancouver.