Samuel Montembeault and his helmet of redemption

But for the rest, he did his job. He kept his club in the game, he went out and got the win, and he made several saves he needed to make to redeem himself.

The first goal he gave away? There was traffic in front of his net and the Habs were defending themselves short-handed.

But when all is said and done, Monty did what he had to do to regain the confidence of his team and the fans.

To some fans, at least.

We saw his teammates defend him publicly before the game, but we especially saw the reaction of the players after the game. The guys threw themselves at him on the ice, and it was he who got the victory helmet.

This scene, filmed by the Canadiens, speaks volumes about the respect Monty commands in the Habs dressing room.

Of course, if he’s to seek redemption, the goalie will have to stick to his winning ways. Because, until proven otherwise, he’s not having a great season and he’s still in the middle of a ménage à trois.

That could change at any moment… but Jacob Fowler and Jakub Dobes are still there with him.

If he plays the way he’s supposed to, he’ll do his part to ensure that, more and more, his name will be on everyone’s mind when it comes to who’s playing the next game.

In fact, under the circumstances, it seems to me that it would be Dobes’ turn tomorrow. But we’ll see in due course.

However, to tell the story of the game, we can’t just talk about what happened in front of the net. There were 18 other skaters who played for the Habs.

So what do I remember?

1. Nick Suzuki is having a strange season, but his production is clearly up to scratch. Even if he’s sometimes more self-effacing on the ice, he manages to get up when he needs to.

But against Florida, he played a big one.

He scored two goals, including the winner in overtime. His 19th career point in overtime allowed him to surpass Howie Morenz at the top of the franchise.

Nothing too serious.

2. Brad Marchand was applauded for his 1,000th career point, he scored… and he made a dirty move against Mike Matheson in overtime. It led to his team’s defeat.

It was a Brad Marchand game, then.

From the Canadiens’ point of view, we’ll just have to hope that Matheson does the right thing. His head clearly ate the shot, and we all agree that it’s not a pretty picture.

How is the Canadiens’ Québécois defenseman feeling this morning? Will Marchand get a slap on the wrist?

3. The Canadiens, in rebuilding, wanted to have a young, dynamic, fast, and talented club. In that respect, HuGo has pretty much accomplished its mission.

The club has plenty of guys who know how to generate offense.

4. The Habs have 100 points in 83 games in 2025 (regular season), demonstrating that the club is turning the corner on its rebuild. This is new compared to last year.

But what’s not new?

Fan enthusiasm on the road – especially in Florida during the holiday season. Our colleague Marc-Olivier Cook was there to see for himself.

He confirms that Canadiens fans cheered Montembeault on during the game, even though it was obviously on the road. #Wow

5. We’d been wondering for a few games if Cole Caufield would find a way to finally score at even strength. His last goal without a man advantage came on December 7.

But yesterday, he stood up.

6. Martin St-Louis clearly rolled with four defensemen (Mike Matheson, Lane Hutson, Noah Dobson, and Alexandre Carrier) since Adam Engstrom (11:29) and Arber Xhekaj (9:39) didn’t play very often.

I’m not necessarily surprised.

extension

The Canadiens have announced that the club will enjoy a day off on December 31. The Habs obviously won’t be playing, but they won’t be practicing either.

The boys can celebrate (not too loudly, ideally) the end of 2025 in Carolina.

Tomorrow night, at 7 p.m., the Habs will play the Hurricanes. There’s no word yet on which goaltender will start, or whether guys like Owen Beck and Jayden Struble will return to the lineup.

Nor are we expecting a medical update from Mike Matheson today following the Sunrise rat strike. Why not? Because it’s a vacation.