A massive two points was up for grabs at the Bell Centre on Tuesday night. With a regulation win, the Montreal Canadiens could move back into a wild card spot, and within a single point of their opponents, the Tampa Bay Lightning, for third place in the Atlantic division. They did just that, and now find themselves in a position that has a lot of pundits eating their pre-season words about the Tricolore’s chances this year.
And while I sincerely doubt Samuel Montembeault read my piece after his last outing in Toronto, he still managed to feed me my words against Tampa.
Samuel Montembeault with two more big saves to keep the #GoHabsGo in this game. pic.twitter.com/gIvWUIZmLx
— Marc Dumont (@MarcPDumont) January 22, 2025
While I would hesitate to call this an outright steal by Montembeault, there is no arguing that goaltending was a major factor in this game. This time, it was a major factor in Montreal’s favour, as he gave them every opportunity to win. Expected goals in all situations were 4.62 to 3.28 in Tampa’s favour, so while neither team was able to eclipse their expected scoring, it was Tampa that fell far shorter thanks to Montembeault.
It wasn’t that the Habs played badly, but they struggled against the aggressive forecheck of Tampa. This led to a lot of quick chances on plays coming from the boards and into the slot, which meant a lot of high-danger shots flying towards their net. When the Habs decided to play a little more run-and-gun in the third period, knowing full well that they struggle defending against rushes, even more high-danger shots were flying. Montembeault gave the Bolts nothing, and simply held the door open for the Habs until Jake Evans was able to find the right opportunity for the game-winning goal.
Montembeault managed to put a rough night against the Leafs behind him very quickly. I felt vindicated after watching Jakub Dobes perform well against the New York Rangers, but this bounce-back performance from Montembeault has me doubting my own contention that there could be a controversy brewing in Montreal.
In my defense, maybe there is a goaltending controversy, but if all it means is having two guys playing like they’re trying to win the job, this team could be better off for it.
Click the play button below to listen to your full Bottom Six Minutes, also available wherever you get your podcasts. We’ll be back on Thursday night, as the Habs will head to Michigan to face another wild card hopeful in the Detroit Red Wings.