Hockey

Martin St-Louis isn’t worried about Samuel Montembeault, but fans are
Charles-Alexis Brisebois
Martin St-Louis isn’t worried about Samuel Montembeault, but fans are
Credit: Getty Images

The case of Samuel Montembeault continues to be the talk of the town.

Obviously, yesterday's5-1 lossto the Kings is not just on the goalie's shoulders. After all, the club's skaters really played like crap in front of him.

We'll come back to that.

But the fact remains that, once again, Montembeault was unable to stop the bleeding and give his club the best chance of winning.

Kevin Fiala's goal is a case in point. Monty granted a… generous return on that one.

For the rest, it's hard to blame him. The last goal was in an empty net. The fourth goal was on a breakaway. The second goal was when the Kings had an extra man and were buzzing in the opposition zone. The first goal was defended. #VueVoilée

And that's probably why Martin St-Louis defended his goaltender to the media, saying he still had confidence in him going forward.

But on the other hand, the NHL is a league of results. And Monty's results haven't been incredible so far this season, which makes fans a little cynical about him.

If a goalie in top form had given up those goals, it would have been easy to talk about an anomaly. But this isn't the first time this season that Montembeault has given away a few goals in a short space of time.

Yesterday, we're talking about three goals in 4:05. It killed the club – especially after Fiala's goal.

I was among those who wanted to see Montembeault play yesterday, to see him build on his performance against the Mammoth on Saturday. But inevitably, we now wonder what it would have been like if Jakub Dobes had been in front of the net.

Would he have made a key save to give his teammates some gas? Who knows.

Logically, Dobes will play tomorrow against the Stars. But the real question will be which goalie gets the start on the heels of Saturday's game against the Bruins. That's when we'll find out if St-Louis really meant what he said last night.

But that's not all we have to remember about yesterday's game. Québécois Samuel Montembeault wasn't the story of the game, let's face it.

So what do I remember?

1. The guys had a bad one in the system. Martin St-Louis wasn't shy about saying that his group played poorly in front of Montembeault last night.

And Nick Suzuki did the same, pointing out the number of turnovers his team committed.

2. Juraj Slafkovsky had a tough game. It even prompted Martin St-Louis to give Ivan Demidov a few reps on the first line.

I can't wait to see how it looks tomorrow…

3. There were several Team Canada executives in the room last night. Let's just say that some guys picked a bad time to have a bad game.

Darcy Kuemper, who is fighting for a position in front of the net with the Olympiques, did well in front of the Kings' cage.

4. A young club taking on an experienced, heavy-handed team that knows how to close down the game when it has a lead, posed a major challenge for Martin St-Louis' men.

That's what learning is all about.

5. The Canadiens were 0-for-3 on the powerplay. The Kings were also 0-in-3, but scored on a man-up penalty.

Sure, if the club shot more on goal, it would help the powerplay – and the game in general, for that matter. It's only natural.

6. The Canadiens may have come up against their bête noire and seen the referees award a phantom penalty to Kirby Dach, but a loss is still a loss. We'll have to correct a few things for tomorrow's game.

After all, no one in Montreal wants to see the Stars niify the Canadiens in French tomorrow night… like the Kings did.

7. Three of the four former Canadiens players now playing for the Kings earned at least one point yesterday. Corey Perry was left off the score sheet.

That's worth noting.


extension

Today, at 11:30 a.m., the Canadiens will practice in Brossard. The club will have a few things to correct for tomorrow's matchup against the Stars at the Bell Centre.

In recent years, the Dallas club has always looked good when it comes to the Bell Centre. And with the Habs undoubtedly holding on to their advantageous position in the standings, they'll have to try to win this one.

(Credit: NHL.com)
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