Nothing works for Samuel Montembeault right now

At the start of the season, Samuel Montembeault was shining. His games against Toronto and Ottawa were excellent, but also encouraging for the future.

After all, we’re still trying to figure out if he’s a #1 goalie in the NHL.

But since then, things have gone downhill. I don’t know if the workload isn’t adequate or if the pressure is too great, but the chain has come off in the case of the Bécancour goaltender.

Yes, there was that good start against St. Louis. But the fact remains that four of his last five outings have been difficult. He didn’t complete two of them.

In his last five games, he has one win and 18 goals. Yesterday, he let in one shot out of two.

He has a 3.67 GAA this year and his efficiency rate is .891. Yet he stopped 72 of the first 73 pucks he received in his first two games of the season.

And it’s worth mentioning that he’s only played at home this year. Theoretically, it’s easier than on the road. #LastChange

This isn’t to say that Montembeault isn’t good, because he isn’t. But let’s call a spade a spade: he hasn’t had it at all since the game against the Penguins on October 14.

He’s not in his zone right now. A goalie in his zone doesn’t break his stick after a bad outing.

Maybe he just wasn’t in the right zone? https://t.co/gYQW4LDYFi

– Maxime Truman (@MaximeTruman) October 30, 2024

Because the Habs don’t have any other realistic options (Cayden Primeau isn’t a #1 goalie and Jakub Dobes, as promising as he is, still needs mileage down low), I don’t expect any big changes. And besides, the season is still young.

But the fact remains that Monty, who knows what he has to work on, has to rise to the occasion.

He’s been getting beaten up a lot by veiled shots lately. First exercise = veiled shots from the enclave. pic.twitter.com/Irr6bSldXj

– Marc-Olivier Cook (@Cook_Marco) October 30, 2024

He needs to do it to keep the Canadiens #InTheMix for as long as possible, but also because Team Canada is a few weeks away from finalizing its lineup for the Four Nations Tournament in February.

And right now, the way he’s playing, the Québécois is probably getting out of the race more than anything else.

Obviously, the sample is still small in this month of October, but the fact remains that I wanted to check out the stats of his opponents in the race in question.

Here’s how it looks.

• Adin Hill, Golden Knights: 4-2, 3.20, .878
• Jordan Binnington, Blues: 2-4, 3.12, .895
• Stuart Skinner, Oilers: 2-4-1, 3.51, .872
• Logan Thompson, Capitals: 4-0, 3.21, .876
• Darcy Kuemper, Kings: 2-0-2, 3.20, .897
• Marc-André Fleury, Wild: 2-0-1, 2.93, .899

I put Fleury here because, at this point, he can’t be dismissed too quickly. And when you consider that no goalie is stopping nine out of ten shots, it’s not necessarily too late for Monty (3-4, 3.67, .891) with Team Canada… which says a lot about the state of goaltending in this country.

We’re a long way from the days when Canada (and Quebec) had the best goalies.

Even if the eye test isn’t conclusive at the moment, if he bounces back and management remembers his world championship in 2023, it could work in his favour.

But for that to happen, he has to stand up.