Samuel Montembeault was completely left to his own devices last night in the Montreal Canadiens’ crushing 6-2 defeat against the Vegas Golden Knights.
It’s a real shame for the Quebec goalkeeper that his teammates abandoned him like this.
Montembeault was having an excellent streak with an efficiency rate of .966 in his last four games, but everything fell apart in the second period with the Golden Knights’ five unanswered goals.
Monty started the game so well with an impeccable first period, as he kept his team in the game with 12 saves, including several on excellent scoring chances.
In short, last night’s defeat is in no way Montembeault’s fault, and Martin St-Louis made it clear in his press briefing after the match.
What’s also important to note is what the head coach added right after.
“Even the goalkeepers who go to the four nations tournament don’t make these saves. » – Martin St-Louis
Indeed, St-Louis defended its goalkeeper by indicating that the goals scored by the Golden Knights last night would not even have been stopped by the best goalkeepers in the world, those who will participate in the four nations tournament.
We might think that St-Louis is only defending Montembeault with this statement, but at the same time, we might think that St-Louis may be discreetly implying that Monty will not be going to the tournament to represent Canada.
Montembeault has, however, been considered one of the serious candidates to represent the Canadian team at this tournament in net since the start of the season.
Does St. Louis know something we don’t know?
Because by saying that the Four Nations Tournament goalies themselves wouldn’t stop Vegas’ goals last night, well, St. Louis is kind of excluding Montembeault.
In the end, maybe St. Louis was just clumsy in the way they defended their goaltender, but it’s still an interesting quote.
In Burst
– A day off that is clearly not deserved.
– He will not have been at the helm of the Saint-Louis Blues for long.
– Still positive for the Maple Leafs.
