Hockey

The habs goalies couldn’t have picked a better time to get back in shape
Félix Forget
The habs goalies couldn’t have picked a better time to get back in shape
Credit: Getty Images

This afternoon, the Canadiens defeated the Golden Knights in Vegas. In the process, the club picked up its second consecutive win… and in both cases, beat a big Western team on the road.

Regardless of tomorrow's result against the mighty Nordiques at the mighty Avalanche, the three-game trip will have been a success.

And when you think of those two wins, you think of the Habs goaltenders. What's different is that this time, we're thinking of them for all the right reasons.

On Wednesday night, Jakub Dobes stopped 31 of the 34 shots he faced. More importantly, he stood up after dropping it in the second period.

And this afternoon, Montembeault did even better: he turned aside 30 of 31 Golden Knights shots in what was his best performance of the season.

Suddenly, the discourse surrounding the Habs' goaltenders is no longer negative. It's still a small sample, but it's clear that, like many of the club's players for some time now, the two goalies have got their mojo back.

The trip out West clearly came at the right time. But above all, the wake-up call for both goalkeepers couldn't have come at a better time.

Between now and next Sunday, the Habs will play five more games. And all of them, in fact, will take place in a two-games-in-two-nights situation. Dobes will be in net tomorrow, and we can expect both goalies to get two more starts each between now and the end of this crazy sequence.

The Habs can't get by with just one good goalie: they need both goalies to be in top form if they're going to win. And for the past few days, they have been.

And beyond the next week, the Canadiens have 13 games on the schedule between December 2 and December 23. The games will follow one another at breakneck speed (there will be two more two-game stretches in two nights after next weekend's), and Martin St-Louis will need to be able to count on both his goaltenders.

Let's hope Dobes' confidence isn't shattered by the mighty Avalanche tomorrow, that said. Because for both goalies, it looks pretty fragile, we agree.


In Overtime

– Ivan Demidov's ice time continues to be the talk of the town.

– Let's hope the Bell Centre will be the place to be for him, too.

– The guys have fun.

– Impressive.

– He is exceptional.

– Interesting.

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