This morning, the Canadiens wake up in Quebec for the first time in a while. They’ve just returned from a trip out West that wasn’t easy on many levels.
It won’t be easy to get back on track quickly. That’s often the case when you return from a long trip out West.
Will the crowd’s support for Martin St-Louis, who recently returned to the team, serve to nourish the Canadiens’ players? Perhaps it will.
But one thing is becoming increasingly clear: it’s going to take goalies who get the job done. The crowd, big as it is, can’t make the saves for the goalies…
At the start of the season, when Jake Allen was good (he won a Molson Cup, remember) and Samuel Montembeault was winning more regularly, the Habs found ways to win games.
And if the team wants to win games soon (because yes, the players don’t care about the draft), Samuel Montembeault and Cayden Primeau will have to play up to their talent.
The good news? The end of the trip showed that the guys are on a roll.
Looking at the very short term, Primeau gave up just one goal to the Kraken on Sunday and Monty (who had yet to win in March) did the same in Denver on Tuesday. They went in search of victory for their team after a tougher start to the trip in Vancouver and Alberta.
You can say that Primeau was helped by an offside call and David Savard playing goalie, that Montembeault was helped by a late four-minute Avalanche penalty or that the team played well… but the reality is that the guys got the job done.
And in a development league, that’s important.
For the first time this campaign, the Habs gave up one goal or less in two straight games. That’s no mean feat when you consider that one of those games was against Colorado and the other was without Martin St-Louis.
Of course, it’s only two games. That said, it’s a positive to build on for the future.
With Jake Allen sacrificing himself to make room for his two young colleagues, it’s clear that the guys in place in Montreal know they have the confidence of their team.
Note that the Canadiens will train at 10:30 this morning. We should learn the identity of the goalie who will face the Flyers tonight in their first home game in a while.
And we’ll see if the goalie chosen has a big one in him.
Overtime
– Enjoy.
– To set the table for the new baseball season.
– Martin St-Louis’ commitment is notable. [JdeM]
– To be continued.
– Sad news yesterday.
More must-reads: