At a time when Nick Suzuki and Cole Caufield are confirming their immense talent, I’m excited to discover the real Samuel Montembeault and I see a different goalkeeper than last year.
I won’t scare you by telling you he’s the next Carey Price, but he shows he belongs in the National League and gives general manager Kent Hughes cause to give him a two-year contract, totaling two years million dollars.
We won’t tell a story. It was difficult for him last year when the Canadian struggled and even had to play a couple of games with an injury.
He learned well from his first full-time NHL campaign and outperformed Cayden Primeau in training camp. He fully deserves to be where he is, and I’m not wrong when I say he stole three points in his last two games in Buffalo and Winnipeg, where he only had five goals in 81 shots has allowed.
Now, I don’t want to start controversy about goalies, but it’s been a little tougher for Jake Allen lately. He has conceded 13 goals in his last three games and his defense saw all colors on Saturday night against the Vegas Golden Knights, the latter eclipsing the Canadian in all departments.
Advice for Martin St-Louis
We know Allen and get to know Montembeault. Martin St-Louis will need his two masked men, but if I had any advice for him on how to use them, it would be to not hesitate to let whoever is in good order have the net.
Right now I think Montembeault deserves the net, whether it’s two, three or four games in a row. Soon it will be Allen’s turn, but to get the most out of his goalies when there’s no real number one, you need to give back-to-back starts to whoever plays best.
However, as I mentioned last week, a 1-1-1-1 rotation is rarely the best solution. I prefer 2-2-2-2 rotations, but again, it doesn’t have to be systematic.
The mental aspect
The mental aspect for a goalkeeper is very important and when you experience a great performance or two you feel invincible, you just have a desire to get back in front of the net and use that confidence that takes you to a higher level.
Three good performances in a row in one week is by no means the same as three good performances in three weeks from a psychological point of view, especially for a youngster like Montembeault who is trying to establish himself.
It’s a little different with an experienced guy like Allen, who knows tobacco and might need more time to recover physically.
Happy in Montreal
One thing is for sure, it’s nice to see a Quebec goalkeeper who seems to be enjoying playing in Montreal. It stunned me last year when I realized that Montembeault was the first Quebec Canadiens goaltender to win a game at the Bell Center since I left in 2006.
Can Montembeault establish himself as the undisputed number one? I don’t want to speculate on that because he’s only played four games so far. I just hope that Martin St-Louis can use his goalkeepers’ momentum throughout the season to get a few more wins.
And currently it’s Montembeault who has the momentum.
I would speak differently if Carey Price were active, because a coach first has to bring his number one to its highest level. We are not in such a context.
– Interview by Gilles Moffet
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Caufield and Suzuki again
What a pleasure to see it developing Cole Caufield and Nick Suzuki ? Despite the 6-4 loss to Vegas, the two up-and-coming talents wowed the spectators in the stands at the Bell Center on Saturday. We know that the Stanley Cup in Montreal is not for tomorrow, but we can hope that it will be possible in the more or less near future. Suzuki and Caufield must not fall into the trap of racking up point after point. They must play to win and maintain the discipline that will one day make them champions.
Slafkovsky deserves to stay
Archive photo, Martin Chevalier
Juraj Slafkowski will “burn up” his first year of contract in his tenth game and I like what I see of him. He’ll probably never be as extravagant as the Suzukis and Caufields, but he has several strengths in his game and he’ll be an excellent asset for the Canadian. He belongs in the NHL and deserves to stay in Montreal.
Congratulations to Luongo!
Roberto Luongo will soon be inducted into the Hall of Fame and it’s well deserved. What a career! The fact that he has played over 1000 games says a lot. Roberto was a training machine and a game machine. One doesn’t work without the other. I’ve rarely seen a goalkeeper with the ability to steal games like him. Some nights you felt like even if you net 100 pucks, he would stop them all. I congratulate you, Roberto!
Ovie walks past Gordie
It is finished. Alex Ovechkin Passed Gordie Howe for most goals with the same team (787) and he had additionally scored his 786th goal in Detroit. He misses 13 to catch Howe (801), his total goals including those he scored with the Hartford Whalers. I challenge you to find a better player than Ovechkin in his late thirties.