MONTREAL – Even Jake Allen was amazed by Samuel Montembeault’s split to steal a goal from Nick Perbix in the second period.
“During the commercial break, Jake told me, jokingly, that he would be in the hospital if he had done that split,” laughed Montembeault in the Canadiens locker room following the victory.
The remark was amusing, but nevertheless the Quebec goalkeeper proved, thanks to this little gem, that he might beat the Tampa Bay Lightning when he had a good night.
And the best news in his case is that he is chaining them much more often this season.
“It’s more consistency, more maturity and more experience as a goalkeeper. We can do everything for him, but it starts with the player, he is the one who finds himself in front of the net. A very good progression on his part”, identified Martin St-Louis.
In a season of reconstruction, Montembeault’s presentation did not go unnoticed. He also obtained, Tuesday evening, a fourth start in a row. He still has to prove that he can play the role of starting goalkeeper.
” I think so. When we’re not at our best, our goalies save us a bit. Sam, the way he is playing this year, he has increased his confidence in the net and he feels good, ”described Jonathan Drouin.
According to St. Louis, the four straight starts given to the 26-year-old goaltender aren’t regarding determining what he can accomplish. “We already know that,” he said.
For his part, Montembeault wants to continue to be consistent and give his team a chance to win. He can add this triumph once morest Tampa Bay to his arguments to bank.
Paying adjustments once morest the Lightning
With a 17-17-1 record on opposing rinks, it’s easy to see that the Lightning aren’t hitting as hard away from Florida. That said, the Habs have just won once morest one of the best clubs in the NHL.
Even being young in his new career, St-Louis is seen as a cunning coach. By crossing swords twice in four days with the Lightning, he was able to deploy paying adjustments.
“It’s part of the development of our team to get good results, but (I’m mostly satisfied) with the way we played. It was fun to face the same team, you have a lot of examples to show the players regarding what you want to do and improve. We were ready,” explained St-Louis.
A finding confirmed by Montembeault a few minutes earlier.
“We really did a lot of video. Martin did a very good job with his staff. The meeting was really long before the warm-up. The guys were ready to make the adjustments and even between periods, ”said the goalkeeper.
One of the paid adjustments was being able to insert Kirby Dach as a winger with Nick Suzuki and Rafaël Harvey-Pinard. St-Louis explained that the presence of Dach on this line was intended to counter the unity of Point, Kucherov and Hagel.
It was also fascinating to see that part of this mission had been entrusted to Harvey-Pinard, who keeps earning points.
“With him, you know what you will get in every game. There are several details in his game, he is able to follow the advice, he goes to the net, he can continue the attacks, ”listed the coach.
In the end, the satisfaction was felt in the Habs locker room as the victories come sparingly.
“It’s a top-level team, top-5 in the NHL. We had the lead (Saturday) in Tampa, but they found a way to score goals. This time, we didn’t shoot each other in the foot, we gave ourselves a chance to win. They didn’t have many chances to score,” Drouin aptly noted.