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Samuel Montembeault is more than just a number one goalkeeper

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Samuel Montembeault is more than just a number one goalkeeper

Last night was probably one of the best, if not the best game of the Montreal Canadiens’ season so far.

Seriously, who wasn’t entertained last night?

It was a game with an excellent rhythm, with few empty periods and no real scoring opportunities. The action moved from one side to the other very quickly, making for quite a spectacle.

If every Saturday night of hockey at the Bell Centre was like this, you’d begin to understand the sky-high ticket prices.

In short, last night’s 4-3 Habs victory over the New York Rangers had everything you need for a perfect game.

Beautiful goals, a very close score, numerous scoring chances, a great atmosphere, a thrilling overtime, exciting shootouts, but above all, an incredible performance in front of the Habs net.

Of course, I’m talking about Samuel Montembeault, who turned aside 45 of 48 shots against one of the best teams in the NHL.

Monty’s shootout save capped off an incredible night.

Montembeault fully deserved the win, and he managed to avoid disappointment and a bitter taste from the match.

The Quebec goalie’s reaction to his save on Alexis Lafrenière in the final shootout of the game really said it all, and showed just how much this victory meant to him.

He was excellent throughout the game, and practically single-handedly earned his team the two points.

In fact, this isn’t the first time this season that such a statement has been made after a Samuel Montembeault game – on the contrary.

Since the start of the season, the Habs’ number 35 has been excellent.

In every game where he’s the starting goaltender, he finds a way to help his team stay in the game and even pick up points in the standings.

Despite the three-way battle with Jake Allen and Cayden Primeau, Montembeault remained consistent and performed well when called upon.

In the end, this earned him a three-year contract extension worth $3.15 million per year.

And since that extension, Montembeault has (finally) been employed as the team’s number-one goaltender, winning 50% of the team’s starts (8 out of 16).

It’s well deserved that he’s being used as number-one goalie, because right now, that’s clearly his position with the Habs.

I’d even go so far as to say that Montembeault is more than just a number-one goalie for the Tricolore.

He’s THE goalie of the future for the club right now.

You’re probably going to tell me that, at 27, he can’t be the Habs’ goalie of the future.

But why not?

The Quebec goaltender still has some great years ahead of him, and he’s only gotten better since arriving in Montreal.

His progress has been meteoric, and who’s to say that he’s currently stagnant and won’t continue to improve?

His inspiring career has forged him, and that’s what makes him so strong and confident right now.

In short, I know that the Habs have a certain Jacob Fowler and Jakub Dobes in their goaltending bank, to name but two.

These are two fine young goalies who could certainly become important players in the Habs’ future success, but for the moment, it’s impossible to know for sure.

In Montembeault’s case, however, we can be certain that he’s capable of holding the number-one goaltending position with the Habs for many seasons to come.

If no one else comes along in the next few seasons, he will unequivocally remain THE goalie of the future for the Tricolore, and therefore the official successor to Carey Price.

Here’s hoping he doesn’t just become known as the goalie who stole games and kept the Habs away from Connor Bedard last season and Macklin Celebrini this year.


In a gust

– Ouch.

– What a nice gesture.

– Big check from Ilya Kovalchuk.

– Read more.

– Very bad news.

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