This is how little confidence the Canadiens have in Samuel Montembeault

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This is how little confidence the Canadiens have in Samuel Montembeault
Credit: Patrick Smith/Getty Images

This morning, during team practice, it became clear that Jacob Fowler is likely to be the Habs' goalie tonight. Martin St-Louis hasn't confirmed anything, of course, but the young goalie was the first to leave the ice this morning.

And that's usually a sure sign.

That said, there's another interesting aspect regarding the goalies. In an article published on the club's website, it's implied that all three goalies (Fowler, Jakub Dobes, and Samuel Montembeault) took part in the practice session. The only absence specifically mentioned is Alexandre Texier.

It's also worth noting that in a video posted yesterday, it's clear that Dobes made the trip to Nashville. We can therefore confirm that right now, Dobes is in Nashville… and not in Raleigh.

And that, in fact, clearly demonstrates just how much the Canadiens have lost all confidence in Samuel Montembeault.

After all, one of the major advantages of having three goalies is the ability to be creative in managing back-to-back games (in two different locations). This allows, for example, sending your starting goalie for the second game directly to the location where the team will play the next day—something the Habs did a few times earlier this season.

This saves him the trip and ensures he'll be more rested.

But clearly, even though we expect to see Fowler tonight and Dobes tomorrow, the latter is in Nashville and may serve as a backup tonight. Instead of giving that role to Monty, they seem to prefer giving it to Dobes, a young goalie who is learning to handle the #1 workload, who already has a lot on his plate, and who could benefit from a good night's sleep to face the powerful Hurricanes tomorrow.

We would have loved to ask Martin St-Louis or Jakub Dobes if that's actually the case… but we know the subject is a sensitive one for the Habs right now.

In short, let's just say this story lends a lot of credence to the theory that we won't see Montembeault play again before the end of the season (unless one of the other two goalies gets injured).

But the fact that he isn't even trusted as a backup speaks volumes.


In a nutshell

– Speaking of goalies.

– Will the top line continue its hot streak tonight?

– Injuries in Tampa Bay.

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