Canadiens Lineup

Artturi Lehkonen – Nick Suzuki – Tyler Toffoli

Rem Pitlick – Jake Evans – Josh Anderson

Mike Hoffman – Paul Byron – Brendan Gallagher

Joel Armia – Ryan Poehling – Cole Caufield

Ben Chiarot – Alexander Romanov

Brett Kulak – Jeff Petry

Kale Clague – Chris Wideman

Sam Montembeault – Cayden Primeau

Cedric Paquette, Michael Pezzetta, Laurent Dauphin

Christian Dvorak (upper-body), David Savard (ankle), Jonathan Drouin (wrist), Jake Allen (lower-body), Mathieu Perreault (lower-body), Joel Edmundson (back), Carey Price (knee), Shea Weber (multiple injuries)

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Game Report

When Sam Montembeault was claimed off waivers from the Florida Panthers on October 2nd, no one expected that the Canadiens would be still relying on his services in February. Montembeault, a veteran of 104 games with the Springfield Thunderbirds and Syracuse Crunch, was intended to be a stop-gap measure as an injury replacement.

The 25-year-old has struggled mightily this season winning just two of 15 games with a 3.97 goals against average and a .892 save percentage. Those numbers are very much what you might expect from an AHL-calibre goaltender.

Montembeault and Cayden Primeau have helped the Canadiens earn the worst goals against per game ranking in the NHL.

But on Saturday, Montembeault had himself a game of which he can be very proud. Sam made 40 saves in a losing effort to the Blue Jackets. Columbus peppered Montembeault with 32 shots in the first 40 minutes with 11 high danger shots in the second period alone.

With veteran goaltender Andrew Hammond on his way to Montreal, Montembeault will get some help in the crease. This has allowed the Canadiens to assign Primeau to Laval, a move that was well overdue. Primeau has demonstrated that he is not close to being ready to face NHL talent.

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▼  Rem Pitlick, Jake Evans, Josh Anderson, Alexander Romanov, Ben Chiarot, Brendan Gallagher, Jeff Petry, Paul Byron, Kale Clague, Mike Hoffman, Brett Kulak

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