Samuel Montembeault heard the mock cheers from fans Tuesday night at the Bell Centre.
Just like Patrick Roy and Carey Price had heard them from Montreal fans in the past.
After the Philadelphia Flyers scored three goals on six shots in the first eight minutes of Tuesday’s game, Montembeault stopped a long shot and there were some fans at the Bell Centre who cheered.
“I heard it,” Montembeault said after the game. “I made a save from the red line. But I get it. I just have to do my job and then after that I was able to make some good saves. Our fans are very passionate here and they just want our team to win and they just want everybody to have success. I didn’t really think much of it.”
After giving up the first three goals, Montembeault made 30 consecutive saves as the Canadiens fought back to take a 4-3 lead. The Flyers tied it 4-4 on their 37th shot at 10:15 of the third period and went on to win 5-4 in a shootout. The Flyers outshot the Canadiens 42-20 and Montembeault’s record this season is now 3-3-1 with a 3.67 goals-against average and a .855 save percentage.
“Not the start I would have liked,” Montembeault said. “We gave up three goals early on six shots. But after that I was able to stay in the game and battle through it. Honestly, after that getting a lot of shots was probably the best I’ve felt technically since the beginning of the year. It’s good to get a lot of shots there. After that one (goal) in 37 (shots). So I thought I was pretty good. The guys fought back. Not the result we wanted, but it’s still a point in the standings.”
St. Louis said it was probably the worst game the Canadiens played all season — and he was right — but they came away with a point because of Montembeault, who ended up making 38 saves and had the fans chanting “Mon-ty! Mon-ty!” in the third period, during which he made several big stops.
Montembeault couldn’t really be blamed for the first three goals — the first coming on a deflection from the high slot and the next two on the power play, including the first on a five-on-three. But Montembeault wondered if St. Louis might decide to pull him at that point and looked toward the bench.
“I wasn’t considering it at the time,” St. Louis said. “The easiest thing for me to do, would have pulled him. And I felt like let’s see how we can correct ourself for the rest of the period and then maybe make a decision between periods.”
Back on Dec. 2, 1995, Roy was looking to the bench hoping former head coach Mario Tremblay would pull him in what ended up being the Hall of Famer’s last game with the Canadiens — an 11-1 loss to the Detroit Red Wings. Roy heard mock cheers after he stopped a shot from outside the blue line when the score was 7-1. He raised his arms above his head, mocking the crowd.
Tremblay finally pulled Roy at 11:57 of the second period after he had given up nine goals on 26 shots. After glaring at Tremblay, Roy went to team president Ronald Corey sitting behind the bench and said he had played his last game with the team. Roy was traded to the Colorado Avalanche four days later — and the rest is history.
During the first round of the 2009 playoffs, when the Canadiens were swept by Boston, Price heard mock cheers after making a save on a long shot with the Bruins leading 4-1 midway through the second period in Game 4. Like Roy, Price raised his arms and mocked the fans right back.
Montembeault will never be as good as Roy or Price, but does have the mental makeup to handle everything that comes with playing for the Canadiens — including the mock cheers. He has provided steady goaltending over the last three seasons with save percentages of .901, .903 and .902, respectively. Leaving him in net Tuesday ended up being a smart decision by St. Louis.
St. Louis announced after practice Wednesday in Brossard that Jakub Dobes will start Thursday in New Jersey against the Devils (7 p.m., TSN2, RDS). Dobes has a 6-0-0 record with a 1.97 GAA and a .930 save percentage, but only has 22 games of NHL experience, while Montembeault has played 213 games.
Montembeault’s teammates still have confidence in him.
“I don’t think any of the goals were Monty’s fault,” Kirby Dach said. “I think we have a lot of belief in him and we know how good he’s going to be for us.”
“Monty was our best player tonight,” Noah Dobson said. “He gave us a chance to win.
“I think he’s got a great demeanour for a goaltender,” Dobson added. “Obviously, it’s a high-pressure position in a big market like this, but it doesn’t seem to faze him too much. He goes about his business, he’s a hard worker and you see tonight he’s a great goaltender as well.”
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