Montembeault allowed four goals on 45 shots in Thursday's 4-2 loss to the Red Wings.
The Red Wings came out flying, sending 17 shots on Montembeault in the first period and scoring twice. The barrage never let up, as Detroit returned home from a disappointing road trip and took it out on Montreal. Montembeault has alternated wins and losses over his last seven starts. The Canadiens return to action Saturday night at home against New Jersey.
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Canadiens' Sam Montembeault: Set to start against Detroit
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Montembeault will defend the road crease against the Red Wings on Thursday, Stu Cowan of The Montreal Gazette reports.
After ending December with wins in five of his final six starts of the month, Montembeault has been inconsistent to begin the calendar year, going 3-2-1 with a 3.34 GAA and .886 save percentage over six appearances. He's been in more of a timeshare than usual lately since Jakub Dobes has begun his NHL career with five consecutive victories, but Montembeault will tend the twine for the third time in the Canadiens' last four games Thursday.
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Canadiens' Sam Montembeault: Shuts down Bolts
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Montembeault stopped 33 of 35 shots on net in Tuesday's 3-2 victory over the Lightning.
Montembeault has been very inconsistent over his last five outings, going 3-1-1 with a 3.17 GAA while giving up four or more goals twice during that stretch. With youngster Jakub Dobes currently riding a five-game winning streak, Montembeault will have to continue to stay on top of his game in order to avoid being dropped from the starting role.
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Canadiens' Sam Montembeault: Between pipes against Bolts
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Montembeault will tend the twine at home versus the Lightning on Tuesday, Renaud Lavoie of TVA Sports reports.
Montembeault has been underwhelming of late, going 2-2-1 with a 3.61 GAA and an .871 save percentage in his last five outings. Still, the 28-year-old backstop was solid the last time he faced Tampa Bay on Dec. 29, conceding just two goals on 23 shots in a winning effort. Of note, however, it was Jonas Johansson in the other goal that evening, but it will be Andrei Vasilevskiy opposite Montembeault in Tuesday's tilt.
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Canadiens' Sam Montembeault: Squanders three-goal lead
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Montembeault allowed six goals on 33 shots in Saturday's 7-3 loss to the Maple Leafs.
Losing to a rival was an indignity, but the way in which Montreal and Montembeault lost it was next level. The goalie was handed a 3-0 lead after one period before letting it slip away in the final two frames. His goals-against average increased to 2.98 and save percentage dropped to .897. Montembeault's been streaky and inconsistent this season, and it will be interesting to see if rookie netminder Jakub Dobes, who's been killing it in net, grabs a bigger share of the starts going forward. Dobes is expected to start Sunday's home game against the Rangers.
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Canadiens' Sam Montembeault: Facing Maple Leafs
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Montembeault will patrol the home crease versus Toronto on Saturday, according to Renaud Lavoie of TVA Sports.
Montembeault is 4-1-1 with a 2.65 GAA and an .899 save percentage over his last six starts. He is 16-15-3 overall this season. Montembeault was outstanding in a home start versus Toronto on Opening Night, turning aside all 48 shots in a 1-0 win. The Maple Leafs are tied for 12th in NHL scoring, averaging 3.04 goals per game.
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Canadiens' Sam Montembeault: Allows three goals in win
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Montembeault stopped 22 of 25 shots in Tuesday's 5-3 win over Utah.
Montembeault has won four of his last six starts, though this wasn't the prettiest of efforts. He's allowed a total of 16 goals in that span while going 4-1-1. Overall, he improved to 16-15-3 with a 2.88 GAA and a .900 save percentage through 34 contests. Jakub Dobes has impressed in limited action, but Montembeault is still the Canadiens' top goalie. Montembeault is likely to get the nod Thursday in Dallas after making 35 saves in a 2-1 loss to the Stars in Montreal on Saturday.
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Canadiens' Sam Montembeault: Facing Utah
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Montembeault is set to start in Tuesday's road game versus Utah, per Renaud Lavoie of TVA Sports.
Montembeault was on the losing end of a goaltender's duel against Jake Oettinger in Saturday's 2-1 shootout loss to Dallas. The 28-year-old Montembeault has a 1-1-1 record while allowing nine goals on 81 shots through three starts in January. The Quebec native was defeated by Utah 3-2 in overtime Nov. 26. Utah ranks 25th in the NHL with 2.79 goals per game.
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Canadiens' Sam Montembeault: Hard-luck loss Saturday
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Montembeault allowed one goal on 35 shots in Saturday's 2-1 shootout loss to Dallas.
Montembeault, who struggled over his last five starts with a 3.46 goals-against average and an .869 save percentage, was on point Saturday. He's been inconsistent this season but also streaky, and this strong performance could trigger a hot stretch. The Canadiens next play Tuesday in Utah.
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Canadiens' Sam Montembeault: Tending twine Saturday
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Montembeault will start at home versus the Stars on Saturday, Eric Engels of Sportsnet reports.
Montembeault will take the second half of a back-to-back after Jakub Dobes picked up an overtime win over the Capitals on Friday. The Stars have been rolling lately, winning six straight games with 25 goals scored in that span. Given the circumstances, Montembeault is not a particularly strong fantasy option despite having won three of his last four outings.
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Canadiens' Sam Montembeault: Escapes with OT win Monday
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Montembeault made 16 saves in Monday's 5-4 overtime win over the Canucks.
Montreal fell behind 3-1 early in the second period, but Montembeault was able to keep his focus despite a lack of activity and give his squad a chance to mount a comeback. The 28-year-old netminder has allowed four or more goals in three of his last five starts, and over his last 10 outings, he sports a shaky 3.19 GAA and .877 save percentage despite a 6-4-0 record.
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Canadiens' Sam Montembeault: Tending twine against Vancouver
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Montembeault will defend the home crease against the Canucks on Monday.
Montembeault has been productive in recent outings, going 5-2-0 with a 2.61 GAA and .900 save percentage over his last seven starts. He rested in the second half of a back-to-back set Saturday against the Avalanche but will return to the net against a middling opponent, as the Canucks are tied for 14th in the NHL with 3.03 goals per game this year.
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Canadiens' Sam Montembeault: Gives up four goals Friday
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Montembeault stopped 22 of 26 shots in Friday's 4-2 loss to the Blackhawks.
Montembeault has dropped two of his last four starts while allowing 13 goals on 110 shots. He has started in 13 of the Canadiens' past 14 games, going 8-5-0 with a 2.66 GAA and a .904 save percentage in that span.
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Canadiens' Sam Montembeault: Starting against Chicago
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Montembeault will serve as the starting goaltender for Friday's road game against Chicago, Renaud Lavoie of TVA Sports reports.
Montembeault has picked up wins in his last two starts, posting a 2.00 GAA and .923 save percentage during that time. He'll draw the start in a third consecutive game and will have a favorable matchup despite being on the road, as Chicago is generating 2.50 goals per game this season, which is the third-worst mark in the league.
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Canadiens' Sam Montembeault: Guarding goal Tuesday
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Montembeault will defend the road net against Vegas on Tuesday, per Jesse Granger of The Athletic.
Montembeault is coming off a 21-save performance in Sunday's 5-2 win over Tampa Bay. He has a 13-14-2 record with three shutouts, a 2.90 GAA and a .901 save percentage across 29 appearances this season. Vegas ranks fourth in the league with 3.56 goals per game in 2024-25.
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Canadiens' Sam Montembeault: Back in win column
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Montembeault stopped 21 of 23 shots in Sunday's 5-2 win over Tampa Bay.
Montembeault got back into the win column as part of a successful weekend in Florida. One day after Jakub Dobes shutout the Panthers on Saturday, Montembeault turned in an impressive performance against the Lightning for the team's fifth win in the last six games. Depth scoring has been a big factor, as Montreal has averaged 4.67 goals per game during that stretch, and all five goals Sunday came from the bottom three lines. Montreal's road trip continues Tuesday against Vegas.
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Canadiens' Sam Montembeault: Starting Sunday
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Montembeault will start Sunday's road game against Tampa Bay, Patrick Friloet of RDS reports.
Montembeault will get the second half of Montreal's back-to-back after Jakub Dobes posted a 34-save shutout against the Panthers on Saturday. Montembeault had started 10 consecutive games before Dobes' sparkling NHL debut and could get more rest moving forward if the Canadiens develop some trust in the new backup.
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Canadiens' Sam Montembeault: Win streak stopped
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Montembeault allowed five goals on 32 shots in Monday's 5-4 loss to the Blue Jackets.
The Canadiens overcame a pair of two-goal deficits and went up 4-3 early in the third period, but Columbus tallied two more times to stop Montembeault's win streak at three games. Despite inconsistency, Montembeault is locked in as the No. 1 goalie for Montreal, which does not have an attractive alternative. This was his 10th consecutive start, and he's third in the league with 27 starts behind only Connor Hellebuyck and Juuse Saros, who each have 28 starts. Montembeault will get four days off for the NHL's Christmas break before Montreal returns to action Saturday at Florida, the second of a six-game road trip.
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Canadiens' Sam Montembeault: Wins three straight
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Montembeault stopped 20 of 21 shots in Saturday's 5-1 win over the Red Wings.
Chalk up three consecutive wins for Montembeault, who dispatched the two teams beneath Montreal in the Atlantic Division during the streak. On Tuesday, he shut down Buffalo and then won a back-to-back set over Detroit this weekend, while posting a 1.67 goals-against average and .928 save percentage. It was the ninth consecutive start for Montembeault. He's struggled against the better teams in the league, but the 28-year-old netminder has generally bested squads in the lower half of the standings. He will likely get a chance to extend the win streak in Monday's road tilt against Columbus.
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Canadiens' Sam Montembeault: Set to start Friday
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Montembeault is slated to start Friday's road game against the Red Wings, Renaud Lavoie of TVA Sports reports.
Montembeault has been inconsistent recently, going 4-3-0 with a 2.47 GAA and a .914 save percentage over his last seven appearances. However, he's coming off a strong start against the Sabres on Tuesday, as he turned aside 20 of 21 shots (.952 save percentage) in a 6-1 victory. He'll have another favorable matchup Friday, as the Red Wings are scoring just 2.68 goals per game this year, the eighth-worst mark in the NHL.
