Jake Allen trains as starting goalie this morning

Tonight, the Canadiens welcome the Winnipeg Jets to the Bell Centre. It’ll be a good test for Martin St-Louis’ team, who face a more than respectable outfit on the other side of the ice.

Let’s not forget that the Jets have a 4-3-0 record this season, but there are resources in town. Whether it’s Pierre-Luc Dubois Mark Scheifele, Kyle Connor, Josh Morrissey or Connor Hellebuyck, there are some fine players.

We wondered who would be the Tricolore’s starting goaltender for the occasion, and if this morning’s (optional) training session is anything to go by, Jake Allen will obviously get the chance.

At least, he looked like a guy who’d be comfortable in the #1 net.

Allen hasn’t kept goal in the last two games. In fact, his last start came on Monday, when he was sparkling against the Buffalo Sabres, turning aside 36 of 37 shots.

And in reality, continuing to rotate goaltenders isn’t necessarily a bad idea. The club will be out West over the next week (playing in Vegas on Monday night and in Arizona on Thursday night, both games scheduled for 10 p.m. Eastern time), and since the club is in a sequence of several games in a few days, it keeps the guys fresh.

So far, Allen is the club’s best goalie this season. The three-game sample is thin, but a 2.58 goals-against average and 0.929 save percentage are pretty impressive.

We’ll see if Martin St-Louis confirms that #34 will be his trusted goaltender tonight, but right now, everything seems to be pointing in that direction. Stay tuned.

Extension

I have a feeling this means Samuel Montembeault will be the backup goalie tonight, but we’ll have to keep an eye on that, too.