Following a 4-3 loss against the Boston Bruins on Saturday, the Montreal Canadiens return home for two tough opponents. First, the Pacific leading Vegas Golden Knights visit the Bell Centre, followed by a matchup against the Colorado Avalanche on Thursday. For the matchup against the league leaders, the Avalanche will be wearing the Quebec Nordiques uniforms. Finally, the week ends with a visit to Buffalo on Saturday to face the Sabres. It will be the third time the teams face each other in a span of 16 days, with the Sabres winning the first two contests.
Habs Notes
here are three main things to watch this week.
- First, the spotlight is in goal. On Saturday, Samuel Montembeault became the first goalie since Jacob Fowler on December 28 to start consecutive games. Montreal carried a lead into the third period, when Boston scored twice in 12 seconds to take the lead.
- The Habs have played 15 games since Montembeault’s return from the conditioning stint. Since then, he has 4-2-1 record, 3.10 goals against average, and .888 save percentage in seven starts. Jakub Dobes won all three starts, with 3.67 goals against average, and .838 save percentage. Jacob Fowler started five games, winning once, before returning to the AHL. Fowler’s 2.85 goals against average, and .881 save percentage are higher than the two goalies remaining in Montreal.
- Second, the penalty kill is struggling. Boston scored three times during the power play, bringing the total to nine goals allowed by Montreal’s shorthanded units in the last five games. Prior to this stretch, the penalty kill was sitting 14th overall. The current slump made them dip to 26th entering Sunday.
- Martin St. Louis’ squad has struggled defensively, not only during penalty kills. A couple of blatant examples from Saturday. On Boston’s first goal, Kaiden Guhle took himself out of the play, and Philip Danault lost his man in front of the net. On the third goal, Alexandre Carrier easily allowed Fraser Minten to cut in the slot before scoring.
- Finally, sooner or later the Patrik Laine case will move forward. Laine has been practising with a regular jersey for nearly two weeks. He can rejoin the active roster as soon as he receives medical clearance. Management will need to make room for him via a trade or a waiver transaction. Samuel Blais looks like the leading candidate for a waiver move.
Rocket Notes
The Laval Rocket were in Western Canada for three games. The trip began in Abbotsford on Tuesday with a 4-3 win on Tuesday, followed by a 2-1 overtime loss the next night against the Canucks affiliate. On Saturday, they defeated the Calgary Wranglers (Calgary Flames) 5-3. The six-game road trip continues on Monday with a rematch against the Wranglers. The team will fly home on Tuesday and after a day off, will travel to Syracuse to face the Crunch (Tampa Bay Lightning) on Friday and the Toronto Marlies (Toronto Maple Leafs) on Saturday.
The biggest story from the weekend came on Saturday when David Reinbacher exited early in the second period after taking a hit behind the net. The team shared no information about the severity of the injury. The defenceman has missed significant time due to injuries since his arrival in North America. Another setback would be disappointing.
Home › Forums › Canadiens Notes: Goalies, Reinbacher, more