MONTREAL — In the end, it was 35, not 33, who won the night, and that was fitting. Patrick Roy didn’t want this game to be about him, and Samuel Montembeault made sure it wasn’t.
The 27-year-old made 43 saves, registered his second assist of the season and wasn’t even named a star in this 4-3 win for his Montreal Canadiens over the New York Islanders.
But he certainly took the shine off a legend, who was celebrated in chill-inducing fashion before the puck dropped.
Oh, the fans roared for Roy, who was back behind the bench in this building for the first time in over seven years. They did it during the Canadian national anthem, with a video montage of Roy playing on the scoreboard, and this was more than just a nod to his return. It was mostly an ode to Roy’s legacy as a two-time Stanley Cup-winning goaltender in bleu, blanc et rouge.
For Montembeault, a French-Canadian goaltender tasked with filling Sasquatch-sized skates of those who have come before him, it was a spinetingling moment that only reinforced to him how special it is to be in his position.
“It was awesome,” he said. “I was facing the other way and couldn’t see what was going on when it started going crazy in there. People were screaming like crazy, and if that doesn’t make you want to play hockey, I don’t know what will.”
It took just 35 seconds for No. 35 to put his stamp on this game, stopping two dangerous shots in succession to keep a fragile Canadiens team from cracking against a desperate Islanders team.
Canadiens coach Martin St. Louis said, “He made two big saves, and that enabled us to not have to chase the game,” and called Montembeault’s performance “excellent.”
No one watching would’ve disagreed with that assessment.
The saves Montembeault came up with after the Canadiens took a 3-0 lead, the ones he made to keep the Islanders at bay until it was no longer possible — with Bo Horvat scoring on a five-on-three advantage in the second period and Mat Barzal and Kyle Palmieri scoring on a five-minute power play towards the end of the third period after Montreal’s Brendan Gallagher was thrown out of the game for an illegal check to Adam Pelech’s head that will surely result in a suspension — and the last ones he stretched out for after Sean Monahan made it 4-3 only helped legitimize his status.
“He does it every night for us and always gives us a chance,” said Cole Caufield, who scored his 17th goal of the season in magnificent fashion in the first period and assisted on Monahan’s game-winner in the third. “We’re killing a five-minute penalty at the end of the game, and that’s never easy, but he competed so hard and made amazing saves before they scored. He competed all night, and he’s been huge for us every night. I think he should’ve been more than a first star tonight.”
What Montembeault is proving is he’s worthy of the spotlight that’s on him, and even a bit of the one he took from Roy.
They are inextricably connected, both of them links in a long chain of Quebecois goaltenders to have served as starters for the most successful franchise in NHL history. But Roy holds status in this city that Montembeault can only dream of one day achieving.
Still, it was special for the Becancour, Que. native to witness how Montreal’s adopted son from Quebec City remains one of the most revered Canadiens of all time. It was special for Montembeault to ponder the opportunity he has to write his own story here and dream of it ending with him taking his place among the greats.
Canadiens captain Nick Suzuki, who had a goal and an assist against the Islanders, believes he can do it.
“He’s taken that role and done everything he can to be that type of goalie,” he said. “We’re lucky to have Monty the way he’s playing, and hopefully he continues to do it.”
It was unfathomable Montembeault could when he was claimed off waivers from the Florida Panthers in 2021.
It didn’t appear all that much more likely as he played his first 38 games for the Canadiens.
But he established himself as a good goaltender last season and cemented himself as a starter early on in this one, en route to securing a three-year, $9.45-million contract that will be a steal if he continues to have nights like this one.
That Montembeault came into it after his most disappointing start of the season — he allowed eight goals in a 9-4 loss to the Boston Bruins last Saturday — and rebounded as he did in front of Roy and after such an electric moment, speaks to why he’s well-suited to continue proving it.
“He’s pretty even keel,” St. Louis said earlier in the day. “He does a very serious job but doesn’t take himself so seriously, and I think it helps him.”
“I think it would be easy to feel like a lot of pressure is on his shoulders,” said Mike Matheson hours before registering an assist on the same play Montembeault did. “But he’s doing a great job of not doing that and really just taking it as, ‘OK, I’m playing tonight? I’m going to do the best that I can,’ and that’s a great way to look at it.”
It’s that attitude that’s helped fuel Montembeault’s ascension, and it certainly served him well on a night on which all the attention was supposed to be on another goaltender.
