Team goalie rankings: the Habs in 26th place

Since the start of the season, we’ve been talking about the situation in front of the Montreal Canadiens’ net.

And why?

Because the club is still juggling three goalies, even though it’s now February. That wasn’t necessarily the plan at the start of the season…

Apart from Samuel Montembeault, it’s a little hard to say that the Habs’ goalies have been excellent since the start of the campaign.

Especially when you look at their stats:

• Montembeault’s record of 12-7-4, efficiency rate of .907 and goals-against average of 3.06
• Allen’s 5-9-3 record, .901 save percentage and 3.43 goals-against average
• Primeau’s 4-5-1 record, .899 save percentage and 3.36 goals-against average

That’s why The Hockey Writers ranked the Habs 26th in their ranking of the best teams according to their goaltenders:

Monty gets the job done, and his stats would be better if he hadn’t allowed eight goals against the Bruins on January 20, in a game where his team-mates let him down.

It’s true that the Canadiens are rebuilding and it’s true that the club’s defense is young. No one can argue with that, because those are facts.

But even if it’s more difficult, Montembeault is capable of performing and the other two aren’t.

Allen was excellent at the start of the season, but it’s been really difficult for (already) several months…

And Cayden Primeau hasn’t won since Christmas.

It’s not the end of the world, because the Canadiens are still in a learning phase.

But it does send a pretty clear message to the Montreal organization: to win in the future, the club will need better support for Samuel Montembeault.

Because it’s hard to blame the Quebecer for anything, we agree.

In gusts

– Boom.

– New contract for Martin Pospisil in Calgary.

MARTY PARTY!

The #Flames have signed Martin Pospisil to a two-year contract extension: https://t.co/tGNu3jwx3c pic.twitter.com/4KTPJEw9gF

– Calgary Flames (@NHLFlames) February 7, 2024

– This kid is good.

– Right on target!

Suzuki and Slafkovsky went all outhttps://t.co/lxiPXUq9oa

– RDS (@RDSca) February 7, 2024

– How do you see the situation?