The Canadian | Samuel Montembeault, busy as ever

Since he moved to the pros of the NHL, Samuel Montembeault has never been used to heavy workloads. But that is changing.

Richard Labbe
The Press

That’s changing because Carey Price isn’t around, still hampered by a knee injury, and because the injured Jake Allen won’t be around either for the next eight weeks at least.

So that leaves the field open, well almost, to this 25-year-old goalkeeper, acquired a little in panic in October, on the waiver market.

“It’s new for me, it’s been a long time since I was a number one goalkeeper, replied Montembeault on Friday. I haven’t had that role since the junior ranks. Even when I played in the American League, often, we were more in a situation of alternation. »

It won’t be him in net for the Canadiens on Saturday in Denver, but we can understand coach Dominique Ducharme giving him a little rest.

It’s because Montembeault allowed the Canadian to pick up three points in his last two games, and he did it brilliantly following solid performances; overall, 97 saves on 104 shots in those two games against the Dallas Stars and Vegas Golden Knights.

It’s a good time to remember that the Quebec goalkeeper, with his 49 save game Thursday night in Las Vegas, ranked fifth among goalkeepers in CH history for the most saves in the same game, behind Wayne Thomas (53 saves in a game in 1974), Carey Price (53 in 2009), Jacques Plante (52 in 1955) and Antti Niemi (52 in 2019).

Also, with this 16^and start of the season, the one who wears number 35 finds himself with an unusual workload, he who had had modest seasons of only 11 and 14 games with the Florida Panthers, the team that drafted him in 2015 with a third-round pick.

“I’m really happy, it’s a great challenge for me,” he added on Friday. It’s the first time since the start of my NHL career that I’ve had the chance to play several consecutive games. I was looking forward to this opportunity and to seize my chance. »

This is not likely to change in the immediate future. It’s Cayden Primeau who will face the Avalanche on Saturday in Colorado, but we can assume that the net of the CH will be that of Montembeault in the immediate future.

“Achieving success like he does is good for confidence,” explained Dominique Ducharme. But also, it’s the importance of having a plan when you get to the net. The fact of playing with consistency and playing according to the situations, it gives points of reference. »

Note also that five players, namely Montembeault, Jonathan Drouin, Josh Anderson, David Savard and Jeff Petry, did not take part in Friday’s training in Colorado, according to what the Canadian said. Dominique Ducharme, however, made a point of saying that he had good hopes of being able to bet on all these players in the formation when starting the meeting on Saturday.