All the prowess of goaltender Samuel Montembeault was not enough for the Montreal Canadiens, who lost their flag 4 to 2 against the Winnipeg Jets on Monday at the Bell Centre.
If the final score remained so tight, it is largely thanks to the Quebecer, who multiplied the spectacular saves. He was especially tested in the second period and answered the call, stopping 15 of the 17 pucks aimed at him. Montembeault finally completed his match with 31 parries on 34 throws.
The 25-year-old athlete will not have to blame himself for too long for the two nets awarded in the middle commitment. On the first, 106 seconds after the start of the period – and 77 seconds after the first goal of the CH – Morgan Barron put on his first goal in the uniform of the Jets with a shot of surgical precision, from the enclave.
A little over two minutes later, Barron returned to the charge. Following a face-off in crowd favorite territory, the visitors striker made Rem Pitlick look bad before passing the puck to Paul Stastny, who didn’t miss his chance.
Evgeny Svechnikov also eluded the Habs goalkeeper in the third period, while Adam Lowry sealed the game in an empty net.
A 100th career for Anderson
In the loss, Josh Anderson shook the ropes for the 100th time in his career. In the third period, the Canadiens forward redirected a shot from Jeff Petry behind goalkeeper Connor Hellebuyck. Anderson tied the game 2-2.
It was also his 18th success of the season, as he is involved in a race with Cole Caufield (18) and Nick Suzuki (19) to become the Canadiens’ first 20-goal scorer this season.
Joel Armia is the one who scored the first goal of the game for his team.
Martin St-Louis’ men will be in action again on Wednesday in Columbus, where they will face the Blue Jackets.