Hockey

Even Mike Matheson says: don’t see Samuel Montembeault tomorrow!
Charles-Alexis Brisebois
Even Mike Matheson says: don’t see Samuel Montembeault tomorrow!
Credit: Getty Images

Who will be in net for the Canadiens tomorrow?

Let's agree that it's a tough question… for completely different reasons than at the start of the season. After all, right now, both goaltenders are on fire.

Did Martin St-Louis mismanage his goaltenders' confidence by sending on Samuel Montembeault too often in recent weeks, while Jakub Dobes was on fire?

Yesterday, Mike Matheson even gave his opinion on what's going on with the goalies.

As Renaud Lavoie said on BPM Sports earlier this morning, the defenseman said Monty might need a few days off.

And he's right.

When you look at Montembeault's record since the start of the season, you can see that it's nothing to sneeze at. He's still one of the worst goaltenders on the circuit.

His two goals yesterday against Ethen Frank (who?) show that his confidence is low. The visitors' third goal was bad, let's face it.

In November, the Canadiens' #1 goaltender posted a 3.63 GAA and .860 save percentage in seven games. He gave up 21 goals in all during the month.

(Credit: ESPN)

Yesterday, after the third goal, he was withdrawn in favor of Jakub Dobes, who didn't fare much better. Since the Habs have a tougher November schedule, it's been less obvious for him.

After being the NHL's best goalie in October, he's surely the worst in November. His four goals yesterday give him a 0-2-2 record, a 4.76 GAA and a .820 save percentage this month. He also gave up 16 goals on 89 shots.

(Credit: ESPN)

So I repeat my question: who will play tomorrow?

In an ideal world, the Canadiens wouldn't play Montembeault or Dobes tomorrow. After all, the guys aren't doing the job… and Matheson's right: a break could do not only the Québécois good, but Dobes as well.

In addition to tomorrow's game, the next one is in Utah on Wednesday night. That leaves a few days without a game.

I know a lot of people want the Canadiens to recall Jacob Fowler. However, I think it would be too early (even if he's rolling well down there) to bring him into an atmosphere like the Habs are in right now.

Remember that this summer, the Habs signed a veteran of the game to back up Fowler down low, but also to be able to be recalled in case of need.

We thought “in case of need” meant injury, but oh well.

Kaapo Kahkonen had a good season with the Laval Rocket, and if I had to choose, he'd be my pick to guard the net tomorrow night against the Toronto Maple Leafs.

Unlike the guys in place, who have lost their way and deserve time to find their bearings, Kahkonen makes the saves he needs to make. Yes, it's the AHL… but still.

Let's remember that Jakub Dobes doesn't have to go through the waivers to make his way to the AHL.

Because even though Nick Suzuki believes in his goalies (publicly, at least) and Martin St-Louis recognizes that goalies aren't the only ones to blame, it's still THE club's big problem, right now.

A solution must be found, even if only in the short term. Because the Canadiens' current goaltenders are positioning and moving poorly in front of their net.

We need to get back to basics. And that, as Mike Matheson said, takes time.

The Canadiens may be turning the corner on their rebuild, dealing with major injuries and being the youngest club in the league, but that's no reason to keep throwing up on themselves.

I say that because last year, when Martin St-Louis talked about throwing up on himself, it was after a game against Washington.

If Kent Hughes can't make a move externally right now, he has a duty to see what can be done internally to breathe new life into the city.

And that's even if there aren't many options in Laval.

We've talked about goalkeepers, and now we need to tackle defenders. Because as I said earlier this morning, guys like Arber Xhekaj and Jayden Struble are having it too easy right now.

Adam Engstrom, Marc Del Gaizo or David Reinbacher: that takes someone. Why not Engstrom?

And offensively speaking, the club might be forced to recall a center (Owen Beck, probably) if Jake Evans is still feeling under the weather this morning.

But could another recall help?

I'm not changing my mind: Florian Xhekaj couldn't hurt. I don't care about his start to the season: it's abnormal that Joshua Roy was preferred to him in the final days.

The Unicorn can turn things around and do the job that his big brother is clearly incapable of doing at the moment. Why not under the circumstances?


overtime

– Alex Ovechkin (1643 points) took Joe Sakic out of the top-10 in NHL history for most points. And he looks like a guy on a farewell tour when you see him off the ice.

– Really.

– It shows.

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