Canadiens head coach Martin St. Louis desires Samuel Montembeault to be his No. 1 goalie.
That grew to become apparent after Tuesday’s elective morning skate on the Bell Centre when St. Louis confirmed that Montembeault will make his second straight begin towards the Philadelphia Flyers
(7 p.m., TSN2, RDS).
Montembeault has a 3-3 report with a 3.66 goals-against common and an .839 save proportion, whereas Jakub Dobes is 6-0 with a 1.97 GAA and a .930 save proportion.
Montembeault is coming off a 4-3 extra time win over Ottawa on Saturday night time wherein he made 14 saves because the Canadiens outshot the Senators 27-17. The primary two targets had been unhealthy bounces, however the Senators’ Tim Stutzle made Montembeault look unhealthy on the third aim with a backhand transfer.
St. Louis was requested after the morning skate if he believes it’s essential to have a transparent No. 1 goalie versus a rotation just like the Boston Bruins used in the course of the 2023-24 season, after they rotated Linus Ullmark (39 begins) and Jeremy Swayman (43 begins).
“I don’t know,” St. Louis mentioned after a deep breath. “You simply want that place to be strong. And generally you’re going to have one man that takes the workload far more. I anticipate Monty to take that workload and we’re attempting to assist him (really feel) good about his sport so he can take that workload. I really feel like one other sport at the moment, I feel he can get some rhythm and hopefully it helps him.”
Montembeault has been very constant over the past three seasons with the Canadiens, posting save percentages of .901, .903 and .902, respectively. He additionally has 212 video games of NHL expertise, whereas Dobes has performed 22 NHL video games. It is sensible for St. Louis to need Montembeault to regain his kind early within the season and to assist him with that. It’s additionally good that the coach is aware of he has a really dependable backup in case Montembeault continues to battle.
St. Louis will make one change to his lineup towards the Flyers, having Brendan Gallagher swap with Joe Veleno on a line with Kirby Dach and Zachary Bolduc. Veleno will play with Jake Evans and Josh Anderson.
Full workforce rosters and stats forward of tonight’s sport between the Canadiens and Philadelphia Flyers on the Bell Centre (7 p.m., TSN2, RDS) #Habs pic.twitter.com/JZI2FE9tBI
— Stu Cowan (@StuCowan1) November 4, 2025
Gallagher hasn’t scored within the first 12 video games (he has six assists) after notching 21 targets final season. One motive for the drop in manufacturing is that Evans begins most of his shifts within the defensive zone. St. Louis mentioned the transfer ought to liberate Gallagher a bit from defensive tasks, however he’s not involved that the 33-year-old veteran has but to attain this season. Final season, Gallagher had 4 targets within the first 12 video games and 7 after 15 video games.
Cole Caufield leads the Canadiens with 10 targets this season and is tied for the NHL lead with Nathan MacKinnon of the Colorado Avalanche and Jack Hughes of the New Jersey Devils.
Caufield shall be going up towards a few shut pals on the Flyers in Christian Dvorak and Trevor Zegras. Dvorak was Caufield’s teammate for the final 4 seasons and in addition his roommate in Montreal, whereas Caufield and Zegras performed collectively within the USA Hockey Nationwide Group Improvement Program and nonetheless spend time collectively every summer time.
Dvorak signed a one-year, US$5.4-million contract with Philadelphia as a free agent on July 1, whereas the Flyers acquired Zegras in a commerce with the Anaheim Geese on June 23.
“It’s going to be bizarre seeing him on the opposite facet,” Caufield mentioned about Dvorak. “We had a pre-season sport earlier this 12 months (and) it’s at all times enjoyable to see outdated pals once more. However, on the similar time, he’s an excellent participant we obtained to handle.”
Dvorak has 3-3-6 totals in 12 video games with the Flyers, whereas Zegras has 4-9-13 totals.
Fallait bien saluer Dvo ce matin 🤗Reunited and it feels so good#GoHabsGo pic.twitter.com/SnEUzfkdej
— Canadiens Montréal (@CanadiensMTL) November 4, 2025
“He’s clearly gotten off to an excellent begin,” Caufield mentioned about Zegras. “It’s good to see. He loves hockey and loves taking part in the sport. He’s in a great spot proper now with an excellent group round him.”
Caufield mentioned he realized loads from Dvorak as a teammate and roommate.
“I feel he was a professional,” Caufield mentioned. “Day in, time out, simply how he took care of himself on and off the ice. It was one thing I realized loads from. Not simply to me, however for everyone on this room, he was type of a man everyone appeared as much as. It’s robust to see him go, however everyone type of strikes on in some unspecified time in the future and it’s good to see him having an excellent time.”
Does Caufield miss having Dvorak as a roommate?
“Sure and no,” he mentioned with a chuckle. “For hire, sure. For the nice instances, we positively miss these. However it’s at all times good to see him. We keep in contact fairly typically, in order that’s good.”
scowan@postmedia.com
x.com/StuCowan1
Associated
Todd: Cardiac Canadiens’ surprisingly sturdy begin has followers believing
Cowan: Canadiens win one for Monty as Alex Newhook scores in OT
Source link
