Continuing their home stand on Thursday night against the Nashville Predators, the Montreal Canadiens were looking to string together a couple of wins. While they slowed considerably in the third period, they held on for a 3-0 win with a couple of special teams goals making a big difference. Also making a big difference was Samuel Montembeault, who showed everyone exactly why he’ll be joining Canada for the Four Nations tournament.
And no, it wasn’t politics, despite what some curmudgeon from oil country opined in his garbage tabloid article yesterday.
I refuse to give that article any more life by linking it, but perhaps these are far better reasons for Hockey Canada to have been interested in Montembeault. Perhaps three shutouts on a Habs team that has struggled mightily to win games is worth something. Perhaps the fact that he gives a bad team a regular chance to win games had management believing that he could do that for an all-star team, featuring some of the very best players in the game.
The Habs sat back in the third period against the Predators, partly because they spent most of it shorthanded, and partly because they went into lead defense mode after an early goal in the frame. Montembeault was the key to killing their penalties and defending their lead, and he closed that game for them with authority.
This was on the heels of a fantastic game from him on Tuesday against the Islanders as well. That game was closer, and easily could have been a loss for the Habs if he didn’t play the way he did. He’s playing some of his best hockey right now, and if he can keep that up into January, he might not just be on the roster for Canada, he could win the starting job.
If Montembeault ends up winning the starting job, that shouldn’t be a team that needs him to steal games. The fact that he can is a bonus, but they’ll be looking for a steady presence that doesn’t actively lose them games. If his tenure in Montreal has taught us anything, it’s that he very rarely costs his team a win. In fact, he’s outright stolen a lot more wins than he’s given up.
It wasn’t politics that got him there, it was his play, and it will be his play that gets him between the pipes if and when the time comes.
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