Samuel Montembeault Looks to Build Momentum After Strong Outing in Vegas
For a goaltender, pressure isn’t just part of the job-it is the job. And in a hockey hotbed like Montreal, that pressure can feel like it’s always dialed up to 11. Samuel Montembeault knows that better than most.
After a season that’s had its fair share of ups and downs, Montembeault finally had a moment to breathe on Monday. The Canadiens had just wrapped up a 45-minute skate in Brossard, and for once, the post-practice media scrum had a different tone-less tension, more optimism. That tends to happen when your goalie is coming off one of his best performances of the year.
“Goaltending is probably the most important position in the sport,” Montembeault said, speaking with the kind of quiet confidence that comes from knowing you’ve just delivered. “There’s a lot of pressure here. There have been some tough games, but we’ll keep working and try to be better.”
That pressure he mentioned? It’s real.
Playing in a market like Montreal means every save-and every goal allowed-is magnified. Expectations are sky-high, and the fan base expects wins, even when the odds say otherwise.
Montembeault gets that. “It comes with the job,” he said.
“Fans expect us to win every game. It’s not going to happen, but we’re trying to do our best, to give the team a chance to win.”
He certainly did that on Friday night in Vegas.
Montembeault turned aside 30 shots in a 4-1 win over the Golden Knights, a performance that reminded everyone what he’s capable of when he’s locked in. The Canadiens were under siege early-outshot 10-3 before Zachary Bolduc broke the ice late in the first period-but Montembeault stood tall.
He faced 22 shots through the first two periods, 11 in each frame, and nearly posted the team’s first shutout of the season. That bid ended when Mark Stone found the back of the net with just under five minutes to play.
Still, Montembeault finished the night with a sparkling .968 save percentage. It was the kind of game that can reset a season-or at least a mindset.
Now, the challenge is to build on it.
Montembeault is expected to get the nod again Tuesday night when the Canadiens host the Ottawa Senators. It’s a chance to string together back-to-back solid starts, something that’s eluded him this season. With Jakub Dobes likely to start Wednesday against Winnipeg-after giving up seven goals to Colorado on Saturday-Montembeault has an opportunity to help stabilize a crease that’s been anything but settled.
Let’s be honest: the numbers haven’t been pretty. Through 13 games (12 starts), Montembeault has just five wins, a 3.49 goals-against average, and an .864 save percentage. Friday’s win was his first since November 8 against Utah, and he hadn’t notched a road victory since October 11 in Chicago.
He knows the start of the season didn’t go the way he wanted. “When it started not going well at the beginning of the season, I think I got in my head too much,” he admitted. “I was thinking too much.”
That’s where goaltending coach Eric Raymond stepped in. The two have been putting in work-on the ice and off it.
Last week, they spent 20 minutes focusing solely on the mental side of Montembeault’s game. No pucks.
No drills. Just mindset.
The message was simple but powerful: *Don’t think, just push. *
It’s a back-to-basics approach that might be exactly what Montembeault needs. When he’s trusting his instincts and reacting instead of overanalyzing, he’s capable of giving his team a real chance to win. And in a season where consistency has been hard to come by, that kind of presence in the crease could go a long way.
Tuesday night’s matchup with Ottawa won’t define Montembeault’s season-but it’s another step in the right direction. If he can build on what he started in Vegas, the Canadiens might just find some stability in net. And for a team still searching for its identity, that could be a game-changer.