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Better-than-expected saves: Samuel Montembeault in the NHL top-10

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Better-than-expected saves: Samuel Montembeault in the NHL top-10

Ah, the Canadiens and their goaltending situation…

Everyone’s fed up. Having three goalies in the lineup is one thing, but having Jake Allen play every two and a half days is quite another.

Allen will be in net tonight against the Pittsburgh Penguins, and let’s just say, not everyone’s happy about it. Especially when Samuel Montembeault did so well on Thursday. And it’s not like he’s played five games in a row before… And when you look at his stats, you wonder even more about his usage.

As shown in the table above, he ranks eighth among NHL goalkeepers for saves better than anticipated.

This advanced statistic doesn’t mean anything, and it shows that the Quebecer is still very much underestimated.

In fact, since he’s been in Montreal, his numbers have only increased fivefold. As Marc Antoine Godin so aptly put it on the Tellement Hockey podcast, yes, he’s not at his best when down a man, but when up a man, he’s one of the best.

And internally, he does much better than the other two goalies.

(Credit: NHL.com )

The Boston game hurt his stats, that’s for sure.

But it doesn’t take a degree in goalie management to know that he’s the team’s number-one goalie and that tonight’s game belonged to him. Especially as it’s the last one before the All-Star break…

Allen played four days ago. If Monty wasn’t in the plans, I’d at least have liked to see Cayden Primeau, who hasn’t started a game in a week and a half.

I’ve got nothing against the veteran goalie, but the Habs are rebuilding and the goal is to see what the goalies of the future have in store. By the way, the guys at Radio-Canada were wondering just how worried the organization is about losing Allen to the waivers for having ignored this route since the start of the season.


Breaking news

– It’s now official.

– Another strong game.

– Well done.

– A fine line-up.

– Rien ne va plus.

– Jacob Trouba suspended.

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