Cayden Primeau does the starting goalie routine in training

Tonight, the Canadiens take on the Flames in Calgary. For the occasion, the club didn’t hold an early morning practice, but a few guys jumped on the ice anyway.

Often, it’s the reserves and the starting goaltender who get out on the ice.

And while many expected Samuel Montembeault to play a second consecutive game in front of the Montreal net… it was Cayden Primeau who performed the starter’s routine instead.

Barring a huge surprise, then, Primeau will be on duty tonight against the Flames, which would mean that since Jake Allen’s departure, the two goaltenders in town will have alternated in each of the four games.

While some had hoped to see Samuel Montembeault get the bulk of the starts, that doesn’t seem to be the case at the moment.

On defense, we note that Johnathan Kovacevic, who was in uniform for the last game, has been training with the other extra players (Jesse Ylönen, Michael Pezzetta and Christian Dvorak, who is traveling west with the team).

This would mean that, barring any surprises, Jayden Struble will be back in the line-up, while Jordan Harris will retain his position after a strong performance against the Bruins on Thursday night.

One almost wonders if these three have been part of a rotation for the past few games.

As for the attack, we can expect to see the same 12 forwards in uniform. Pezzetta and Ylönen are likely to be left out, while Dvorak, whose season is over, was probably there to continue his rehabilitation. Good to see he’s able to skate with his teammates, though.

We’ll see if Primeau can match his performance against the Blue Jackets on Tuesday night. Wouldn’t a 41-save shutout be nice?

Prolongation

I wonder if we’ll ever see Samuel Montembeault get the majority of starts in town. After all, he’s seen as the organization’s #1 goalie, and one wonders if the club should give him the chance to play more games.

At the same time, with Primeau dominating against the Blue Jackets on Tuesday, perhaps giving him tonight’s game was a way of rewarding him.