Samuel Montembeault in the playoffs: Elliotte Friedman opens the door

Charles-Alexis Brisebois
Samuel Montembeault in the playoffs: Elliotte Friedman opens the door
Credit: X

The Canadiens and the Lightning are two teams with very different styles in front of the net.

Obviously, there's no goalie controversy for Game 1. Andrei Vasilevskiy and Jakub Dobes will, barring a disaster, start on Sunday.

But what about the rest? That's where the two teams differ.

While it would take an extraordinary situation for the Lightning's Russian netminder to lose his spot, we all understand that there's a scenario in which Dobes could lose his net.

If he loses his way, Martin St-Louis will have to consider it.

I'm not saying it's likely—and I certainly'm not saying it will happen early in the series—for the Habs, but I wouldn't be 100% surprised if Jacob Fowler were to see some action.

But what would surprise me more is if Samuel Montembeault were to play.

On that note, Elliotte Friedman (32 Thoughts) said it's not impossible that the Habs could use two goalies… before adding that people will say he's crazy, but he wouldn't be surprised if he saw the Habs use three goalies in the event of a long playoff run.

It's obviously a short leap to conclude that the third goalie would be Samuel Montembeault. I don't think the insider was referring to Kaap Kahkonen, let's be clear.

(Credit: Getty Images)

Last year, it was the Quebec native who started the playoffs. He started the first three games before getting injured and being forced to give way to Jakub Dobes.

But this year, Martin St-Louis wasn't happy with his goalie's performance and benched him at the end of the season. He had the means to do so this season, with Jacob Fowler in Laval.

I think Samuel Montembeault has a better chance of playing than Patrik Laine… but it's just a matter of math: the Habs are one injury away from needing him. That's not the case for the Finn.

But “more likely” to play doesn't mean I believe it—quite the opposite. In both situations (Monty and Laine), take it as a given that their season is over.


In a flash

– Mats Sundin in the front office in Toronto?

– The Canucks have fired their GM.

– Good question.

– He has a contract through July 1, but we get the point anyway.

– Unbelievable.

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