Canadiens Lineup

Harvey-Pinard – Nick Suzuki – Jesse Ylonen

Denis Gurianov  – Jonathan Drouin – Josh Anderson

Rem Pitlick – Chris Tierney – Mike Hoffman

Michael Pezzetta – Alex Belzile – Anthony Richard

Mike Matheson – Johnathan Kovacevic

Kaiden Guhle – David Savard

Joel Edmundson – Justin Barron

Sam Montembeault – Jake Allen

Chris Wideman

Carey Price (knee), Paul Byron (hip), Sean Monahan (lower-body), Brendan Gallagher (lower-body), Jake Evans (lower-body), Juraj Slafkovsky (lower-body), Cole Caufield (shoulder), Arber Xhekaj (upper-body), Kirby Dach (lower-body), Joel Armia (illness), Christian Dvorak (lower-body), Jordan Harris (lower-body)

Game Report

So here’s an idea. When the Canadiens host the Florida Panthers at the Bell Centre two weeks from now, maybe it’s not a good idea to start Sam Montembeault. 

After allowing three goals in just six minutes to the Panthers, Montembeault was pulled in favor of Jake Allen. For his part, Allen was no better than Sam, with the pair of Canadiens goaltenders giving up seven goals in the first period.

The double pull strikes again this season! #GoHabsGo pic.twitter.com/zzhFHvRvvh

— Left Wing Lock (@Left_Wing_Lock) March 17, 2023

For Montembeault, this shaky start followed two previous losses to Florida where the Panthers scored 13 times. Monte has a save percentage of .847 in three games against the Panthers (his former team), this season.

But it wasn’t just the Canadiens goaltenders who should feel embarrassed by tonight’s performance. The team was sloppy in its own end and soft.. and not very smart with the puck. Mike Matheson had a particularly tough game.

Watching the game was almost comical, waiting for a netminder to make a save or a defender NOT to commit a turnover. But this wasn’t a one-off that should easily be forgotten.

In three games this week, the Canadiens have given up 21 goals. That’s unacceptable no matter the number of injuries or call-ups.

The NHL is not a beer league to be taken casually and the players wearing the CH and standing behind the bench need to exhibit more pride in their effort over the final 13 games.

This game was an emphatic reminder to Kent Hughes and Jeff Gorton that there is no number one goalie on this team. And further, there is no one who has the potential of becoming a number one goaltender in the organization. The general manager said those words one year ago, and they still remain true to this day.

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Minus

▼  Sam Montembeault, Jake Allen, Mike Matheson, Jonathan Kovacevic, Jonathan Drouin, Nick Suzuki, Alex Belzile, Rafael Harvey-Pinard, David Savard, Denis Gurianov, Michael Pezzetta, Mike Hoffman

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