It’s Time To Worry About Montembeault’s Play

At this point, it has been 9 games that the so-called Habs starting netminder has played in so far this season, and we can really only say he played 2 or 3 good games for the team. Even in those games, there were clear signs of shakiness in Montembeault’s play where his teammates or his post were needed to bail him out (a few times against the Utah Mammoth). He eventually settled down, but it’s not without a bad start to the game in those matchups. It seems like he can’t put together a completely good outing for the Habs anymore.

It’s gotten so bad that the Canadiens’ players seem to play a lot more on edge with the Quebecois goaltender in the nets, making them prone to making mistakes themselves. When it comes to a game, sometimes the most skilled players make mistakes, which means they need a goalie to bail them out. Right now, Montembeault is unable to bail anyone out, which will continue to hurt the Habs until he gets his game on the right track. 

There are just so many issues with his game right now that you cannot really justify playing him a lot anymore. Montembeault is playing with very low confidence, which affects his decision-making on numerous plays, such as the Kings’ 3rd goal on Tuesday, where he blindly tried poking the puck away onto Kevin Fiala’s stick, when jumping on the puck was the right play. However, the worst of all is his positioning on most of the goals that he’s allowed this season. 

At first, it was thought that playing him would help him out of his slump, but it’s getting to the point where if the Canadiens are not playing a back-to-back, it’s best to just start Jakub Dobes in goal until further notice to give Montembeault time to figure out what the reason is for his awful start to the year. At the same time, that could end up being a lot of pressure for Dobes, as his hot start to the season has ended over his last few starts. Nonetheless, his performances have been better than Montembeault’s, and he is giving the Habs a chance to win every game that he’s played.

Montembeault was originally on the radar of Hockey Canada to make the Olympic team after playing on the Four Nations team; however, Button confirmed he is no longer being looked at by them, which makes complete sense with just how bad he has been. 

Right now, Montembeault needs to find a way to get back to what he was before, or it could end up being a long year for the Habs despite their hot start. The truth is, they need a goaltender who can steal games as they continue to mature into a playoff contender this season.