The Montreal Canadiens may have just signalled the end of Samuel Montembeault’s season. When the Canadiens recalled Jacob Fowler before the game against the Ottawa Senators, it was unclear how long the former third-round pick would be staying in town during his second stint in the NHL. The young netminder arguably won the game for the Canadiens in the dying minutes against the Senators, making a crucial save against Claude Giroux to keep the lead at one.
After Fowler’s impressive performance in his return to Montreal, the Canadiens gave some clarity on the team’s goaltending situation for the rest of the season. In a minor league trade, the Canadiens acquired AHL goalie Hunter Shepard from the Senators, which suggests Fowler could remain with Montreal for the rest of the season. With Fowler and Jakub Dobes splitting the last couple of starts, we may have already seen Samuel Montembeault play his last game of the season.
Tale of two seasons for Montembeault
Montembeault's season has not gone as he might have expected. Last year, he was the Canadiens' unquestioned number one goalie, having his best season to date, which led to his selection as one of the three goalies on Team Canada’s 4 Nations Face-Off roster. His numbers reflected the great season, recording a career-best 2.80 goals against average and his second-highest save percentage of .902. Montembeault’s underlying numbers were even better, having the fifth-best goals saved above expected in the NHL with 24.6. He was a major contributor to a Canadiens team that made the playoffs last season, which is why his play this season was completely unexpected.
Coming into this season, if the Canadiens were going to make the playoffs again, Montembeault was going to be a big reason why. However, that has not been the case. His season started off on the wrong foot, with a 5-2 loss to the Toronto Maple Leafs on opening night. Montembeault gave up three goals on 25 shots. Montembeault's issue is not his overall play, but the type of goals he is giving up. His goals saved above expected total this season is -4.9, a significant dip from his total last season. Montembeault has a career-worst 0.872 save percentage to go along with a 3.43 goals against average.
The Canadiens worked hard trying to get their number one goalie’s season back on track. During Fowler’s first call-up back in December, Montembeault was sent down to the Laval Rocket on a conditioning stint, in the hopes he would be able to rediscover his form from last season, but that did not work. The next course of action was relieving goaltending coach Eric Raymond of his duties. The hope was that a new voice in Marco Marciano would help the Quebec netminder. That experiment did not work out as planned, and the Canadiens made the tough decision to recall Fowler, believing he gave the team the best chance of winning.
End of the Montembeault era
The last time the Canadiens recalled Fowler, the two young goaltenders would split the starts, but Montembeault would sit in as the backup goalie in those games. However, this time, Montembeault has been reduced to watching the game in the press box. It is very possible that, barring any unforeseen injuries, Montembeault has played his last game for the Canadiens this season.
The Canadiens tried several moves to get their No. 1 goalie back on track, but with 16 games remaining on their schedule, they have to go with the players who give them the best chance of winning games. The playoff race in the Eastern Conference is a tight battle, and every game until the end of the season is crucial if they want to be one of the eight teams in the East that make the postseason.
Montembeault might not have only played his last game of this season, but it is becoming increasingly likely that his career with the Canadiens is over after this year. Dobes and Fowler present the younger option as they are 24 and 21 years old. The thought might be that the two young goalies have yet to reach their full potential, while Montembeault might have peaked last season. With Montembeault’s future uncertain, it will be interesting to see how Jeff Gorton and Kent Hughes navigate this situation in the offseason.