Samuel Montembeault lost his grandmother and Éric Raymond at the same time

Last night, let's face it, Samuel Montembeault was excellent. He played his best game in a long time.

Apart from Kyle Connor's goal in the first period (a goal that was no pushover), the Québécois goalie rose to the occasion and shut the door on the Jets' repeated attacks.

In a 5-1 win where the Canadiens didn't show up early in the game, Monty kept his team in it. He was the best player on his team (as well as the first star of the game), and it wasn't even close.

With 5.58 saves, Samuel Montembeault has just achieved the best performance by a Canadiens goalie this season in terms of statistics. Jacob Fowler had previously had the best start (4.72 saves on December 20 in Pittsburgh).

Source: @naturalstattrick.com

— Simon-Olivier Lorange (@so-lorange.bsky.social) February 4, 2026, at 9:52 p.m.

Keep in mind that Jakub Dobes had played in the four games prior to yesterday's game and was on a good streak. Playing Montembeault was not a popular decision with fans.

But in the end, the Canadiens were right to play the Québécois.

After all, right now, both goalies can go into the break with confidence. And the habs have earned nine points out of a possible ten in their last five games.

That's the opposite of last year, when the club lost its way before the Four Nations Challenge.

It was Montembeault's first game under Marco Marciano as the Canadiens' goaltending coach. It was also the goaltender's first press conference since the coaching change.

What he told the media was that when he called his parents to break the news, they told him that his grandmother had passed away.

Samuel Montembeault has just announced that he learned of his grandmother's death on the day Eric Raymond was fired.

Montembeault says he found out his grandmother passed away the same day Eric Raymond was dismissed as goalie coach#Habs #GoHabsGo

— L.A. Lariviere (@L_A_theRiver) February 5, 2026

So it was a difficult evening for him. Andwith good reason: it's never easy to lose a family member.

The Canadiens goalie says he developed a great working relationship with Eric Raymond, whom he wishes good luck in his future career.

Last night, he had several reasons (besides winning) to dominate. He undoubtedly wanted to play for his grandmother and prove that Marco Marciano's teachings were paying off and that he was capable of competing with Jakub Dobes.

He achieved his goals. And thanks to him, the Canadiens can head into the break in high spirits.

Overtime

– The Artemi Panarin case continues to be the subject of much discussion, even though the trade with the Kings is official.

David Pagnotta: Re Artemi Panarin: I think there would've been given more consideration from Tampa had an extension, a favorable extension been in place, I don't get the sense that that was the case – DFO Rundown (2/4)

— NHL Rumor Report (@NHLRumorReport) February 5, 2026

– Keep an eye on this.

Team Finland isn't sure whether they'll have enough players available to play vs Canada tonight.

13 players are either sick or quarantining due to exposure to the sick players.

No timeline on when a decision will be made on if they can compete or not. @CBCOlympics #Olympics…

— Claire Hanna (@clahanna) February 5, 2026

– Who will win the Super Bowl? [BPM Sports]

– Huge news.