Stop the presses! For the first time in 21 games, a Canadian goalie will start two games in a row. Winner against the Kraken on Monday, Samuel Montembeault will face the Kings on Thursday evening.
Photo Martin Chevalier
“I’m happy to be able to play again immediately,” said the Quebecer, who had not seen action in two consecutive games since the second and third parts of the season.
“It’s important to be able to continue at the pace I had in the last match,” he added.
What happens next will dictate whether Montembeault has truly become his coaches’ trusted man or whether it’s a truce in the rotation. If anything, the stats indicate he should be the starting goalie.
The one who recently signed a three-season extension has won six of the Habs’ eleven victories this season. He is the only one to have a goals against average lower than 3.00 (2.66) and an efficiency rate higher than 0.900 (0.913).
The Kings, a major challenge
Montembeault will not have an easy challenge ahead of him. The Los Angeles Kings come to the Bell Center still undefeated on opposing ice.
Overcoming a three-goal deficit Tuesday in Columbus, they improved their record away from home to 10-0-0. They thus equaled the record held by the Buffalo Sabers since the 2006-2007 season.
Moreover, Martin St-Louis and his men know what to expect, since they faced the next tenants of the Videotron Center less than two weeks ago, in Los Angeles.
Entangled in the 1-3-1 system of the Californian team, the Canadian was blanked 4-0.
“I didn’t hate our first period,” said the Canadian head coach, on the eve of this clash. Against them, you have to be patient. We must avoid creating turnovers. That evening, we lacked the execution to beat the 1-3-1.”
“They play a very different style from other teams. This is a system that we are not used to seeing, argued Johnathan Kovacevic. But here, we just spent two days training specifically for them, working on aspects specific to the Kings.
Possible answers
Obviously, taking the lead – which the Canadian finally managed to do during the visit of the Kraken – would force the Kings to open the game and be less tight in the neutral zone and at their own blue line.
But since the Kings do not allow the first goal very often (9 times in 22 games), the Habs will have to make sure to put a plan in place to get around this defensive formation.
“The Kings have a record of 15-4-3 against several teams that dump the puck. I’m going to see tomorrow how we’re going to attack this, but it doesn’t scare me not to dumper the puck,” said St-Louis.
“We must not be afraid to be creative,” he continued. It takes quick restarts in the neutral zone, don’t give them time to settle down. If we have possession of the puck and we are organized, the Kings will not be able to threaten. But to do that, it takes execution and patience.”
Joel Armia missed training to indulge in a day of treatments