Canadiens coach Martin St. Louis keeps faith in Samuel Montembeault
Struggling goaltender will make his second straight start on Tuesday night at Bell Centre against the Philadelphia Flyers.
Canadiens head coach Martin St. Louis wants Samuel Montembeault to be his No. 1 goalie.
Montembeault has a 3-3 record with a 3.66 goals-against average and an .839 save percentage, while Jakub Dobes is 6-0 with a 1.97 GAA and a .930 save percentage.
Montembeault is coming off a 4-3 overtime win over Ottawa on Saturday night in which he made 14 saves as the Canadiens outshot the Senators 27-17. The first two goals were bad bounces, but the Senators’ Tim Stutzle made Montembeault look bad on the third goal with a backhand move.
St. Louis was asked after the morning skate if he believes it’s important to have a clear No. 1 goalie as opposed to a rotation like the Boston Bruins used during the 2023-24 season, when they rotated Linus Ullmark (39 starts) and Jeremy Swayman (43 starts).
“I don’t know,” St. Louis said after a deep breath. “You just need that position to be solid. And sometimes you’re going to have one guy that takes the workload way more. I anticipate Monty to take that workload and we’re trying to help him (feel) good about his game so he can take that workload. I feel like another game today, I think he can get some rhythm and hopefully it helps him.”
Montembeault has been very consistent during the last three seasons with the Canadiens, posting save percentages of .901, .903 and .902, respectively. He also has 212 games of NHL experience, while Dobes has played 22 NHL games. It makes sense for St. Louis to want Montembeault to regain his form early in the season and to help him with that. It’s also nice that the coach knows he has a very reliable backup in case Montembeault continues to struggle.
St. Louis will make one change to his lineup against the Flyers, having Brendan Gallagher switch with Joe Veleno on a line with Kirby Dach and Zachary Bolduc. Veleno will play with Jake Evans and Josh Anderson.
Gallagher hasn’t scored in the first 12 games (he has six assists) after notching 21 goals last season. One reason for the drop in production is that Evans starts most of his shifts in the defensive zone. St. Louis said the move should liberate Gallagher a bit from defensive responsibilities, but he’s not concerned that the 33-year-old veteran has yet to score this season. Last season, Gallagher had four goals in the first 12 games and seven after 15 games.
Cole Caufield leads the Canadiens with 10 goals this season and is tied for the NHL lead with Nathan MacKinnon of the Colorado Avalanche and Jack Hughes of the New Jersey Devils.
Caufield will be going up against a couple of close friends on the Flyers in Christian Dvorak and Trevor Zegras. Dvorak was Caufield’s teammate for the last four seasons and also his roommate in Montreal, while Caufield and Zegras played together in the USA Hockey National Team Development Program and still spend time together each summer.
Dvorak signed a one-year, US$5.4-million contract with Philadelphia as a free agent on July 1, while the Flyers acquired Zegras in a trade with the Anaheim Ducks on June 23.
“It’s going to be weird seeing him on the other side,” Caufield said about Dvorak. “We had a pre-season game earlier this year (and) it’s always fun to see old friends again. But, at the same time, he’s a good player we got to take care of.”
Dvorak has 3-3-6 totals in 12 games with the Flyers, while Zegras has 4-9-13 totals.
“He’s obviously gotten off to a good start,” Caufield said about Zegras. “It’s good to see. He loves hockey and loves playing the game. He’s in a good spot right now with a good group around him.”
Caufield said he learned a lot from Dvorak as a teammate and roommate.
“I think he was a pro,” Caufield said. “Day in, day out, just how he took care of himself on and off the ice. It was something I learned a lot from. Not just to me, but for everybody in this room, he was kind of a guy everybody looked up to. It’s tough to see him go, but everybody kind of moves on at some point and it’s good to see him having a good time.”
Does Caufield miss having Dvorak as a roommate?
“Yes and no,” he said with a chuckle. “For rent, yes. For the good times, we definitely miss those. But it’s always good to see him. We stay in touch pretty often, so that’s good.”
