Maybe We Were Too Quick to Write Off Sam Montembeault

Remember all the chatter about Samuel Montembeault being done in Montreal? Losing the starting job, then losing the backup job too, basically getting written off as a guy the Canadiens would just try to quietly move before the season even started? Well, his first preseason action might be worth a second look, because it wasn’t exactly the performance of a goalie who’s lost it.

Here’s what actually happened. Montreal ran four different goalies through two preseason games, and Montembeault was the only one who didn’t allow a single goal. He played about half the game, faced 13 shots, including two shorthanded looks, and stopped every single one. Clean sheet, no asterisks.

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Montembeault Held the Maple Leafs Top Lineup Without a Goal

And here’s the part that actually makes it impressive rather than just a nice stat line. He wasn’t facing some watered-down lineup either. He was staring down Toronto’s actual top guns, Auston Matthews, Gavin McKenna, Matthew Knies, and William Nylander. That’s about as tough a test as a preseason goalie can get, and he came out of it perfect.

So what does one clean preseason outing actually prove? Honestly, probably not much on its own. Preseason performances are notoriously unreliable, and one shutout against a still-gelling lineup isn’t a full body of evidence. But it does complicate the “Montembeault’s cooked” narrative that’s been floating around all summer. A goalie who genuinely lost his confidence and his game usually doesn’t shut the door against a team’s best forwards in his first real look of camp. That’s something to consider.

The Canadiens Had to Be Hoping Montembeault Showed Well

For Montreal, this is exactly the kind of start they were hoping for, even if they’d never say it out loud. The team chose not to move him over the summer. The read was always that they wanted to see if a strong camp could rebuild some of his trade value before making any real decision about his future. If he keeps performing like this, that patient approach starts looking pretty smart. Instead of dealing him at a discount while his stock was in the basement, Montreal might actually get a real return if another team’s goalie market suddenly opens up. In fact, they might even decide to keep him.

The bottom line is that one shutout doesn’t erase a rough season. But it’s a genuinely encouraging sign that the “he’s finished” talk might have been a little premature. Sometimes all a goalie needs is one clean outing against real competition to remind everyone what he’s capable of, and Montembeault just gave Montreal exactly that.

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