The Montreal Canadiens and Samuel Montembeault’s Historic Shutout

Well, that’s one way to start the season on the right foot. A Cole Caufield goal and a Samuel Montembeault shutout. And against heated rival Toronto Maple Leafs? Who could ask for more?

It was a surprising outcome in so many different ways. First off, the Maple Leafs are guaranteed to finish near the top of the division, and might be the favourites if not for the defending champs Florida Panthers also being in the division.

And the Montreal Canadiens are trending the opposite direction as they are projected to once again finish near the bottom of the standings, especially without big off-season acquisition Patrik Laine.

Maybe the only predictable thing about this game is that the Montreal Canadiens only scored one goal, and that goal came from Cole Caufield.

And there’s the fact that the Toronto Maple Leafs are a phenomenal offensive team (at least in the regular season). When you have Auston Matthews, Mitch Marner, William Nylander, John Tavares and Morgan Reilly, you are going to score a lot of goals.

In fact, the Toronto Maple Leafs are a historically consistent offensive team.

The date of November 20th 2021 might not stick out in many hockey fans, even Toronto fans. But that was the last time the Toronto Maple Leafs were shutout by anyone. That team was the Pittsburgh Penguins backstopped by Tristan Jarry.

So, for those keeping track, that is just under 3 years ago. And 252 games, including the playoffs. The streak is 3rd best all time of it’s kind, beaten out just by the Los Angeles Kings (264 games from 1986-1989) and the Chicago Blackhawks (262 games from 1970-1973).

Add it to the fact that Samuel Montembeault has not been known for his shutout abilities. In 144 games before last night, Montembeault had recorded only 1 shutout, as a member of the Canadiens awy back in the 2021-22 season.

Plus, the Toronto Maple Leafs shelled the Habs pretty hard. It was pretty even in the first period, but slowly the Leafs began taking over the game, and the majority of play in the third period was dictated by the Leafs. By the end of the night, the Toronto Maple Leafs recorded 48 shots, and Montembeault made 48 saves.

There were a couple of tense moments as the Leafs scrambled in front of Montembeault, and he had a little help from his friends behind him, with Matthews and Nylander hitting the crossbar and post respectively.

But the puck never crossed that red line, and the score remained 1-0 for the Montreal Canadiens. Its a historic start to the season in more ways than one, and hopefully it is a sign for many great things to come in this 2024-25 season!