The Montreal Canadiens opened their 2024-25 campaign on Wednesday night at the Bell Centre with an upset win over the Toronto Maple Leafs. A customarily lengthy ceremony was held, boos rained down on former team captain Max Pacioretty all night long, and we even heard the famous olé chant with the team leading in the third period. Hockey is truly back in Montreal, and the Habs rewarded their fans’ patience with a win to start the year off on the right foot.
And with Carey Price in attendance, Samuel Montembeault honoured him with perhaps the best impersonation he could have offered.
The Habs played a tight game with the Leafs for the first 20 minutes, and then went into a shell and watched the Leafs take over the game at even strength. From the start of the second period onward, they poured 28 shots on goal, had 13 high-danger scoring chances, and still couldn’t find anything to equalize Cole Caufield’s first-period goal. Some credit is surely due to the Habs’ defenders for clogging the shooting lanes, but they at least would have found themselves in extra time if not for Montembeault.
And it was truly reminiscent of some Price classics. Montembeault was so well positioned, he made even the tougher saves look easy. He was explosive moving from post-to-post when he needed to, and rarely if ever lost his tracking of the puck. He did get a bit of help from his posts in the second period, but if you ask any goaltender why that happens, they’ll tell you it’s because the posts was all they gave the opposition to shoot at. This may be a bit cliché, but it rings true with what we saw on Wednesday night. The Leafs had to really try to pick corners, because anything they sent near Montembeault was getting stopped.
He actually set an NHL record for the most saves in a season-opening shutout. If this is indicative of the kind of performances we’re to expect from him this season, he won’t just be wowing Habs fans, he could very well find himself on Hockey Canada’s radar.
The Habs will likely hope to avoid needing him to steal games moving forward, but it’s always comforting to know you have a goaltender who can do just that.
Click the play button below to listen to your full Bottom Six Minutes, also available wherever you get your podcasts. We’ll be back after tonight’s second half of the back-to-back against the Bruins.
