Canadiens' expected flaw entering playoffs has become a strength

The Montreal Canadiens entered the playoffs with tons of hope. They had their top prospect Ivan Demidov signed from Russia, and their offense, mainly the first line, was clicking at an impressive rate. It looked like Montreal would give the Washington Capitals a real test, and many put them on upset watch as the first seed against the eighth seed. The only question for the Canadiens was how Sam Montembeault would hold up under the bright lights of the postseason, and many viewed him as their No. 1 flaw after the regular season ended.

The people who suggested Jakub Dobes could steal Montembeault's starting job were proven wrong by how Montembeault played over the series' first two games. He has not only been a strength for the Canadiens, but he has also been one of the league's top goaltenders through the limited sample size of two games for each series.

MoneyPuck.com presents some advanced analytics for the public's usage, and they have been ranking goaltenders through the regular season and playoffs. Through two games, Montembeault is the fifth-best goaltender through advanced analytics, beating out some notables like Connor Hellebuyck, Jake Oettinger, and Darcy Kuemper.

Some hockey fans ignore advanced analytics, and I'll admit that I sometimes disregard them when people try to base analysis solely on them. I firmly believe the game is played on the ice, and it's hard to predict game outcomes based on stats. Look no further than Kuemper being the third-worst goaltender in the playoffs but being 2-0, or Hellebuyck being ranked tenth. An important thing to note is that a goaltender only has to be better than the guy he's standing across the ice from, and that's the case with Kuemper (Stuart Skinner is the worst) and Hellebuyck (Binnington is two spots behind).

The bad news for the Canadiens is that the advanced analytics trend for goaltenders continues in their series against the Capitals. Montembeault is the fifth-best goaltender based on MoneyPuck's analytics, but Thompson is the third-best. The Canadiens' starter can play as well as he wants, but it will be meaningless if his offense doesn't start to figure out Thompson.