It’s been a tough goaltending month for the Montreal Canadiens. After Samuel Montembeault started the season with a magical 48-save shutout to beat the Toronto Maple Leafs, the Habs netminders—like their defense—have crumbled. In 11 games, Sainte-Flanelle has given up 46 goals.
Meanwhile, tonight’s hosts, the Pittsburgh Penguins, have already surrendered 48 goals to their opponents, but they’ve done it over 12 games for an average goals against per game played of 4.00. The Canadiens are tied with the Colorado Avalanche in last place with 4.18.
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If you think Montembeault and Cayden Primeau have had issues, you should know that the Penguins’ number one goaltender last year, Tristan Jarry, is currently in the AHL with the Pens’ farm team in Wilkes-Barre/Scranton. He landed there after playing three NHL games this season in which he gave up 12 goals and posted a goals-against average of 5.47 and a save percentage of .836.
As a result, the Penguins are now relying on Alex Nedeljkovic and Joel Blomqvist to hold the fort with modest results. The former has a 3.18 GAA and a .890 SP, while the latter has just played his first six NHL games and has a 3.46 GAA and a .909 SP to show for it.
Neither of the Canadiens’ netminders has great stats against Sidney Crosby and co. Montembeault has a 2-1-1 record, a 3.40 GAA, and a .894 SP, and Primeau has lost his two games against them with a 4.84 GAA and a .860 SP. Considering Thursday’s result, we should see Montembeault in net tonight.
As for the Pens, Blomqvist has never played the Canadiens in his young career, but Nedeljkovic has a great record. He’s 2-1-1 with a 1.91 GAA and a .944 SP. The latter was on duty on Thursday for Pittsburgh’s last game, so the coach may want to give Blomqvist a game since he’s played the most games so far this season.
Both teams have similar records right now, the Pennsylvania outfit has a 4-7-1 record with nine points to its name while the Tricolore also has nine points but on the back of a 4-6-1 record.
The two teams have already played each other this season, with the Penguins triumphing 6-3 at the Bell Centre in mid-October. Lars Eller hurt his former team with a couple of goals, and Evgeny Malkin earned first-star honours with a goal and two assists.
Related: Canadiens: Montembeault Cannot Win Them All
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