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Montembeault is human and the Habs let him down against the Pens

 Sarah Jones
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Montembeault is human and the Habs let him down against the Pens
Credit: Getty Images
Tonight, the Montreal Canadiens were at home for a visit from the Pittsburgh Penguins.

Martin St-Louis opted not to make any changes to his line-up for Saturday night. This meant that Cayden Primeau did not play, as did Jayden Struble and Michael Pezzetta.

Here’s what it looked like.

Right from the start of the game, the Habs weren’t necessarily in the game. It took a long time before the Flanelle got a shot on net, and in the meantime, the Penguins outwitted Samuel Montembeault.

Lars Eller scored his eighth career goal (in 21 games) against the Habs.

As it’s easy to exaggerate at the start of the season, I’d say that Samuel Montembeault’s goal in front of a Hockey Canada executive (Kyle Dubas) is very detrimental for the future of the Four Nations Confrontation.

You’ll understand that I’m making a little joke here, as we had to wait until the end of the game before drawing any conclusions about his performance.

After that, it took several minutes for the Habs to get a shot on goal (over 13 minutes after the start of the game), and it quickly became clear that the Habs didn’t have a big shot in the system at the start of the game.

It reminded me of Saturday’s game, when the Habs were ordinary in the first period. But the difference was that on Saturday, the Habs were at least (somewhat) opportunistic. How about tonight? It was the opposition who took advantage, scoring twice in the first period as Rickard Rakell added to his tally.

To get back into the game, however, the Habs found a way to please their unsatisfied fans: find the back of the net. It was time for the Habs to do something.

A beautiful play by Mike Matheson led to a goal by Kaiden Guhle, who is off to a strong start to the season. 2-1 to Pittsburgh to end the first period.

Early in the second period, Nick Suzuki decided to take matters into his own hands. He put his more difficult start to the season behind him and put his club’s ordinary start to the game behind him via a whole powerplay.

Juraj Slafkovsky just had to be in the right place at the right time to tie the game.

Emil Heineman then showed why he’s in the NHL. He scored for the second time in two games with a high-quality shot.

And even though Lars Eller tied the game (3-3) immediately afterwards, Heineman was able to capitalize on his goal.

In the third period, Kevin Hayes was forgotten in the slot to make it 4-3 Penguins. And a few minutes later, Kris Letang made it 5-3 to really stun the Habs and cut off any remaining prospects. The Pennsylvania chickens must be scared to death.

Let’s just say that the Habs have already looked better than they did on that goal… and in that game, where a lot of guys didn’t play for 60 minutes.

The Habs were unable to hold on to their 3-2 lead and lost the game 6-3, as the Penguins scored into an empty net late in the game.

The Canadiens’ next game is Thursday night against the Kings. Will he be able to play for (at least) 60 minutes?


Prolongation

– Prime’s cameras were on site, as were Taylor Swift and Travis Kelce, and Commissioner Gary Bettman. Bettman spoke to the media before and during the game.

– Lane Hutson is a game-changer offensively. He’s a spark.

– Watching Sidney Crosby play is always a pleasure. He may be at the end of his career, but he’s still very capable of holding his own on the ice.

– Justin Barron playing physical? I like him. He has to make himself useful in some way – if not reliable.

– We shouldn’t have expected Samuel Montembeault to be perfect all season long. He was less dominant tonight, but we’ll have to see how he responds in his next game.

– Once again, the Canadiens stirred the pot defensively. If Jayden Struble could be healthy on Thursday, it would do some good.

– While Kirby Dach’s return to the lineup this season is welcome news, it was to be expected that he would have a tougher time of it at the start of the season. His performance – and that of his line – tonight is proof of that.

– There were some good elements, but also some not-so-good ones. The ups and downs of Sophie Paquin and Martin St-Louis’s troupe are sometimes quite something.

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