MONTREAL — After the opening festivities wrapped and the last cloud of smoke evaporated, Samuel Montembeault went out and won the Montreal Canadiens a hockey game.
He shattered an NHL record — with 48 saves being the most a goaltender has ever made in a season-opening shutout (Filip Gustavsson had a 41-save shutout in Minnesota’s opener against the Florida Panthers last season) — and he never seemed overwhelmed in the process.
Montembeault didn’t even realize what he had done.
When we told him after the game, he said, “I had no idea.”
When we told Montembeault what the record was, he said, “Oh really? That’s nice.”
Like water off a duck’s back.
There’s something about a goaltender being so cool and calm in such big moments that seems so familiar.
In case you forgot about that history here in Montreal, it played out in technicolour during the pregame montage, with footage of Jacques Plante stacking his pads, Ken Dryden leaning on his stick, Patrick Roy winking through his cat-eye mask and Carey Price windmilling gloved pucks.
There’s the Rocket, Le Gros Bill, and Guy! Guy! Guy! The Flower.
But the great goalies of the Canadiens always manage to steal the show.
You’d think Montembeault, who grew up a Canadiens fan in Becancour, Que., roughly 145 kilometres east of the Bell Centre, might be overwhelmed by it all. By having to follow in those gigantic footsteps, by the pressure of having to make a difference for a team that expects to compete for a playoff spot no one outside of Montreal believes they can earn, and, of course, by the pressure the Toronto Maple Leafs can apply as one of the most gifted offensive teams in the NHL.
But no.
“I don’t even know if he realizes the spotlight,” said Canadiens captain Nick Suzuki of Montembeault. “He just goes out there, has fun. You never see him too stressed over anything.
“You love seeing that in a goalie.”
Especially when there are five seconds left in the game and the puck is on the blade of the world’s deadliest hockey stick.
With the Leafs pouring it on at six-on-five, a bang-bang play developed, leaving Auston Matthews all by himself in the slot as time was expiring.
Matthews did what Matthews does, releasing the puck as soon as he got it. He had the top of the net labelled.
But the rising puck landed right in the Canadiens crest of Montembeault’s jersey because, as the goaltender said, “I was close to my post, I went into the RVH and I saw the quick pass in front, so I tried to get out all the way…”
And he succeeded. Perfect technique precisely executed to make a hard save look easy.
The Canadiens spent much of the third period making the easy stuff look hard. They had chances to escape when the Leafs put them in a pressure cooker in their zone, and they bungled them — extending the opening shift of the frame to nearly two full minutes.
But overall they played strong, united, and with the pride expected of them on a night like this, with images of the team’s glorious past omnipresent as they skated out onto the ice.
“We are privileged,” said Canadiens coach Martin St. Louis. “Me coming behind that bench and the players wearing that jersey, what this franchise has done, the history behind it — you can’t overlook that. Each and every day we’re trying to respect that logo and earn the right to wear it. So, for us, I don’t see us ever not honouring the past, and that’s as we’re still moving forward.”
Montembeault helped the Canadiens take a step on that journey on this night.
Just one small one.
His teammates will try to take another one Thursday in Boston, against the Bruins.
They’ll have many corrections to make, but they still have much to be encouraged about from this 1-0 win over Toronto — from Cole Caufield’s power-play goal to the penalty kill’s excellent work on four occasions to the will they showed in front of Montembeault.
“I’m happy we hung in there,” said St. Louis. “Was it our best game? No.
“But it was a pretty good game. We played a pretty good game considering they were chasing the game, so they take a lot more chances. And they have a high-powered offence and we find a way to bend but not break. That’s what you have to do in this league. So, I’m proud of the guys.”
And the goalie?
“It’s big for him,” said St. Louis. “You don’t get do-overs. This is the first game of the season; you don’t get to go back and replay it … It’s a positive on many levels for the group and for Monty.”
