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No goalkeeper in the East has played as many games as Samuel Montembeault

 Maxime Truman
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No goalkeeper in the East has played as many games as Samuel Montembeault
Credit: Getty Images

The Canadiens are on an incredible streak: they have a record of 6-1-1 in their last eight games… even though they’ve just gone through a frickin’ tough schedule.

But be careful! The Montrealers aren’t out of the woods just yet.

They will play four games in six nights this week, in three different cities – and time zones.

Tuesday @ Utah, 9:00 PM Quebec Time
Thursday @ Dallas, 8:00 PM Quebec Time
Saturday vs. Maple Leafs, 7:00 PM
Sunday vs. Rangers, 7:00 PM

At least the team had time to leave two days before their game played at altitude this time, and not just a few hours before, as was the case before going to Denver about ten days ago.

The Habs arrived in Salt Lake City yesterday and will practice on the ice of the Utah Hockey Club arena in a few hours.

Back to the altitude…

It is often said that players have difficulty acclimating to the lower oxygen levels in the air of Denver, which is located at an altitude of 1,609 meters, but since Salt Lake City has just entered the NHL, it seems to be overlooked that the city is situated at 1,300 meters above sea level.

The Habs wanted to acclimate to the time change, but also to the oxygen levels in the air by leaving two days earlier than the match against André Tourigny’s team.

With four games in six nights – and a second caliber goalie for a few weeks – there’s reason to think that Martin St-Louis and Éric Raymond will opt for two starts for Montembeault and two starts for Dobes.

My prediction: Montembeault tomorrow in Salt Lake City and Saturday against the Leafs… and Dobes Thursday in Dallas and Sunday against the Rangers.

I could be wrong, though.

Why do I see a 50-50 split?

Because Samuel Montembeault is the goalie who has played the most games in the East this season: 33.

He is also the one with the most starts in the East: 32.

Only Connor Hellebuyck has played more games than Montembeault in 2024-25: 34 (34 starts).

(Credit: NHL.com)

It’s worth noting that Montembeault has been pulled from games several times since the start of the season.

In today’s NHL, goalies who play too much during the regular season often have difficulty maintaining the pace once the playoffs begin. See Hellebuyck for example…

Now that we can count on a successful #2 goalie in Jakub Dobes, let’s use him properly.

We’ll chat about the Habs after practice…


In brief

– Small contract in Columbus.

– As I confirmed yesterday, CF Montreal has a new player: Prince Owusu. Here are some random pieces of information about the new Montreal forward:

– Nathan Saliba is likely to be the next CF Montreal player to head to Europe.

– The Canadian women’s team has found its head coach.

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