(Montreal) Martin St-Louis did not choose the three-goalkeeper rotation that has prevailed since the start of the season. We therefore understand his responses as a politician on this subject.
“We make calculated decisions. »
“We manage according to the calendar. »
“I have confidence in all our goalkeepers. »
If three masked men still share the work more or less equitably, it is because the team management has decided so. Because she fears losing one on waivers. Or because she did not accept the exchange offers submitted to her, if any were submitted to her. It is legitimate.
St-Louis, however, has probably reached the end of its resources to defend this decision which was not its own, after Samuel Montembeault stopped 45 pucks in a 4-3 shootout victory against the New York Rangers. York.
“Is Montembeault your number one? “, we asked after the meeting. “He plays like a number one,” replied the head coach.
Against the New Yorkers, the Quebecer was simply masterful. “Quite exceptional,” added David Savard. It was fun to see him go. »
The Rangers’ 48 shots on target came from everywhere, in all situations. Apart from their three goals, two of which followed deflections, the visitors hit a wall, not only in regulation time, but also in overtime, literally until the last second.
PHOTO GRAHAM HUGHES, THE CANADIAN PRESS
Goal by Brendan Gallagher
In the shootout, Montembeault gave nothing. He reserved his best save for Mika Zibanejad, who believed he had beaten his rival by serving him a Peter Forsberg-style feint. However, the goalie reacted just in time to hit the puck with his stick as it slid towards the goal.
“He already made the same move against me and he scored,” recalled the first star of the match at the end of the evening.
I had bitten and he had changed sides. There he did the same thing, I followed him, but he still came back to one hand. I made a good save, I’m really happy!
Samuel Montembeault, on his save in the shootout against Mika Zibanejad
Not his “cup of tea”
Montembeault’s reputation is well established: in victory as in defeat, he does not lose his temper. Thus, in front of the army of journalists, he smiled with all his teeth, but in particular praised the electrifying atmosphere of the Bell Center – the crowd also cheered for a long time after the final siren – and by paying tribute to the constant effort from his teammates, who never gave up even if the Rangers erased a 0-3 deficit.
He was especially delighted to have won in a shootout, a situation which is not his “cup of tea”. Verified, it was only his second victory in these circumstances in seven attempts since his arrival in Montreal two years ago.
His teammates praised the progress he has made since the Habs claimed him on waivers on October 2, 2021.
“We see him becoming more and more comfortable in front of his net,” noted David Savard.
He feels big, the pucks are hitting him. He takes a lot of time, does a lot of rehearsals. I think it pays off when you see how confident he is. We trust him 100%.
David Savard, about Samuel Montembeault
Brendan Gallagher remembered Montembeault’s very beginnings in the blue-white-red jersey. A 5-1 defeat in Buffalo, suffered after a horrible performance from the skaters in front of him.
“It hadn’t gone well,” Gallagher summarized. But he handled it well and never stopped believing in his abilities. He worked, worked, worked. He’s at the point in his career where he’s winning games for us, and that’s hard to do in this league. He works, he takes very little leave. Playing in Montreal is special for him, and you see the reactions he gets after games like this. We all feed off it. »
“I’m trying to be ready.”
Montembeault mainly spoke about his technical progression. Its positioning. His ability to follow the puck. His way of facing veiled shots.
He did not bite, however, at questions about his status. He believes he showed last season that he could handle a heavy workload. And he was happy to play the January 2 match in Dallas, 48 hours after an individual performance he didn’t like in Tampa. Besides, “when I have the net, I try to be ready,” he said.
He’s not just trying. He is one of the goalkeepers who concludes matches with the most regularity with an efficiency rate above .900 – here he is at 12, in 17 starts.
His last two victories, against the Stars and the Rangers, he signed against elite clubs. While at the start of the season, it was Jake Allen who seemed designated to face the toughest opponents, it is now Montembeault who obtains these assignments. Let us know, the menage a trois is not over, but number 35 has played three of CH’s last four matches.
If he “plays like a number one”, behaves like one, seems to be increasing his duties and has been offered a three-year contract, it may be because he is what he is, ultimately: the number one goalie of the Montreal Canadiens.
Even if those seem like very difficult words for his trainer to pronounce.
Rising
The numerical disadvantage
After a miserable outing on Thursday, the squad had a perfect night by silencing the best power play in the league. The Rangers certainly obtained 14 shots in these circumstances, but the CH unit finally effectively protected the front of its net.
Falling
Kaiden Guhle
Ordinary performance, even difficult, despite mainly facing the Rangers’ third line. He also received two punishments.
The number of the match
20 min 28 sec
This is Jayden Struble’s ice time, a peak for him, at his 21e game in the NHL. Only David Savard and Mike Matheson were ahead of him in this regard on Saturday. We even saw him for almost 2 minutes in overtime.
In details
The dark hero of the Rangers
PHOTO ERIC BOLTE, USA TODAY SPORTS VIA REUTERS CON
Vincent Trocheck (16)
Saturday morning, Alexis Lafrenière gave love to his center, Vincent Trocheck. “He does pretty much everything. That’s what makes it so good,” said the Quebecer. In a team where the hands of Artemi Panarin, the shoulders of Jacob Trouba and the mane of Mika Zibanejad monopolize the attention, Trocheck goes a bit unnoticed, but in defeat, he showed his versatility. He started his team’s comeback by deflecting a shot, before setting up the second goal, that of Panarin, by winning a faceoff by pushing the puck forward. Clearly a choreographed play, although NHL statisticians gave Mitchell Stephens the win for that play. To reporters in the Rangers locker room after the game, Trocheck opened his playbook. “C It was my second faceoff in seven seconds against him. Faceoffs are psychological warfare, so I tried to go forward, since I had just gone backwards. » Not for nothing is Trocheck 3rd in the NHL in this regard. The number 16 also made some defensive plays, for example by diving in front of a shot from Sean Monahan at the end of the third period.
Evans’ responsibilities
With all the injuries up front for the Canadian, Jake Evans has no shortage of work to do. No. 71 had another busy night, with 19 minutes on the ice, a number he reached for the fourth time this season. Where it gets interesting for him is that it’s not because of the penalty kill that his usage time has exploded. The CH received three penalties, a very ordinary figure. It’s simply that it is used in more and more diverse situations. In particular, he took five faceoffs in the offensive zone, compared to six in the defensive zone; the gap between the two is significantly larger in general. Evans was also entitled to 38 seconds on the power play, having been employed on the second unit since Christian Dvorak was injured. Even more intriguing: Martin St-Louis sent Evans into overtime for two appearances, and this, without it being for faceoffs. It remains to be seen if he will take advantage of his increased usage to expand his statistics; he hasn’t scored in his last 11 games and has three assists during that stretch.
The end of lethargy
Brendan Gallagher spent much of his press scrum discussing his 24-game goalless lethargy. He made sure not to experience this exercise again for at least two months by scoring in the first period, with a good wrist shot. He can thank David Savard, who allowed the Montreal attack to stay in offensive territory by preventing the puck from crossing the blue line. The goal brings Gallagher’s total to 6 in 39 games this season. His average of 0.15 goals per match, however, is the worst of his career after his 0.13 in the 2021-2022 campaign. We will see if, like Josh Anderson, who scored 6 goals in a span of 10 games in December, Gallagher will be revived by his success on Saturday.