Samuel Montembeault hasn’t played in the NHL since December 9, when he came in relief to Jakub Dobes in a 6-1 defeat at the end of the Tampa Bay Lightning, and he hasn’t started a game in the NHL since December 2, a 5-2 loss to the Ottawa Senators. Since then, he’s had a conditioning stint in the AHL with the Laval Rocket, played two games between a diminished side that was missing several of its regulars, lost them both and spent a lot of time working on his game with Rocket goaltending coach Marco Marciano, a man he’s known since he first worked with him when he played in the QMJHL with the Blainville-Boisbriand Armada. On Tuesday night, we’ll get to see if it worked, if he has his game back.
For most, it may just be yet another Tuesday night break, but for Montembeault, the stakes are much higher. The way he performs tonight will, in all likelihood, dictate how the Montreal Canadiens move forward with their goaltending this season. The fact that his first game back is against the Florida Panthers, the team that drafted him in the third round of the 2015 draft before putting him on waivers in 2021, is an interesting twist of fate. However, it’s not like the goaltender should need any more motivation than proving he still belongs in the Canadiens’ net.
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Tuesday night’s tilt will be the first of three meetings this season, and it comes as just two points separate the two teams in the standings. The Habs are currently third in the Atlantic Division, while the Panthers hold the second wild card spot in the Eastern Conference. Should the Cats claim the two points tonight, they’d overtake the Habs despite having the same number of points in the standings since the Florida outfit has more regulation wins than Martin St-Louis’ men.
Interestingly, the last 10 games between the two teams have been split evenly, with each team claiming five wins. The Canadiens won the last five, while the Panthers won the first five, including a home game on February 29, 2024, which they took 4-3 in the shootout. Will the double defending champions call time on the Canadiens’ domination over them?
Just like the Canadiens, the Panthers have had their fair share of injury woes this season, and they are still without two huge names in Matthew Tkachuk and captain Aleksander Barkov, who’s out for the season, but may come back in the playoffs, if the Cats get there. Dimitry Kulikov, Jonah Gadjovich, Tomas Nosek and Cole Schwindt are also all on injured reserve.
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Florida has a 7-3-0 record in its last 10 games and won a duel against the Washington Capitals, 5-3, on Monday night with Sergei Bobrovsky in net. It was the Russian netminder’s 446th career win, allowing him to overtake Terry Sawchuk in eighth place on the all-time wins leader list. He needs nine more wins to overtake Curtis Joseph in seventh place. Florida has yet to confirm who will be in the net for the game against Montreal; it may be the second game of a back-to-back, but it’s a crucial match in the standings. Bobrovsky has a 16-9-1 record against the visitors with a 2.47 goals-against average and a .918 save percentage. As for backup Daniil Tarasov, he’s only faced the Canadiens twice, and he has a 0-1-0 record with a 2.65 GAA and a .898 SV.
Meanwhile, Montembeault has a 4-4-1 record against his former team with a 3.75 GAA and a .892 SV. As for Jacob Fowler, he has never faced them, but they were the first team Jakub Dobes ever played. Just over one year ago, he made 34 saves to register a shutout against the Florida outfit and help the Canadiens turn their season around.
When the Canadiens practiced on Monday, there was one significant change in the lineup up front. Alexandre Texier was skating alongside Nick Suzuki and Cole Caufield on the top line. He had finished the last game there, but it looks like St-Louis wants to have a longer look at him in that spot. This means that Zachary Bolduc finds himself on the third line, playing alongside Phillip Danault and Josh Anderson. Brendan Gallagher is the Canadiens’ top points producer against the Panthers with 24 points in 40 games, while Suzuki has 20 points in just 19 duels, and Anderson has 14 points in 24 tilts. Caufiled is not far off from being a point-per-game player against the hosts with 12 points in just 14 games.
At the other end of the ice, Brad Marchand is the Panthers’ most productive player against the Habs with 48 points in 58 games, and he’s on an eight-game points streak, having put up 13 points in that span. Sam Reinhart comes in second place with 23 points in 34 duels, and Sam Bennet completes the top three with 21 points in 28 games.
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The game is set for 7:00 PM, and you can catch it on SCRIPPS, TSN2, and RDS. Cody Beach and Kendrick Nicholson will officiate, with Brad Kovachik and Tyson Baker serving as the linemen. Tuesday night’s tilt will be the Canadiens’ last game of 2025 as they’ll be off for New Year’s Eve before taking on the Carolina Hurricanes on New Year’s Day.
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