In what was the biggest game of the season so far for the Montreal Canadiens, they took on the Detroit Red Wings at the Bell Centre with a chance to take a true stranglehold on the final wild card spot in the east. As we’ve seen them do many times, they came out completely flat, but managed to rally in the second and third periods to find the scoring they needed to get the job done. As of this morning, they enjoy an eight-point cushion on their playoff spot, with a chance to play for the first wild card if they can perform well over the final four games.
And none of this would have been possible without Samuel Montembeault, who made sure that their poor start didn’t matter.
Not even up for discussion, your first star of the night.
— Matt Drake (@DrakeMT) April 9, 2025
Samuel Montembeault when his team needed him the most. pic.twitter.com/4mlqnLZQwD
He had to drag that team trough a first period where they allowed a whopping 23 shots on goal. To put that into perspective, the Habs have had 24 games this season where they’ve put up 23 or less shots on goal through a full 60 minutes. In 14 games, they’ve allowed 23 or less shots. Montembeault basically had to do an entire night’s worth of work in a single period, and he managed to get his team into the second period with just a one goal deficit.
For the first time in his career, he has a 30-win season. Not half bad for a guy who was placed on waivers by the team that drafted him.
The Habs were significantly better in front of him in the second and third periods, but if he was even slightly off in the first, they could have been down by five or six instead of just one. This was the biggest game of the year, the Habs came out looking exhausted and flat, but their goaltender rose to the occasion, as he often has over the past few seasons. For all the talk about whether or not Montembeault is a number one goaltender, he has sure played like it whenever this team really needed him to.
Of course, this win did more than just provide a stranglehold on the WC2 position. They are now just three points behind Ottawa for WC1, a team that just so happens to be their next opponent. If they can stretch this winning streak to seven, they’ll have a real shot at passing the Senators, potentially setting up a round-one meeting with the Toronto Maple Leafs.
Whoever they see in round one, they’ll be the underdogs, but we’ve seen that film before, haven’t we?
Click the play button below to listen to your full Bottom Six Minutes, also available wherever you get your podcasts. We have a few days off now, and we’ll be back on Friday, when the Habs will start their last back-to-back of the season on the road against the Ottawa Senators.
