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Mike Matheson intercepted Mitch Marner and quickly passed it to Alex Texier, who made a break pass to Jake Evans for a goal that stands as the most dominant play of the third period the Montreal Canadiens played in Las Vegas.
They were smart, detailed, fast, mature, and accurate, all of which were lacking at the beginning of this game.
Amazingly, it turned out to be just what the doctor ordered for Canadian goaltender Samuel Montembalt. It gave him a chance to do what he hasn’t been able to do in 12 other appearances this season, and one can only hope that capitalizing on it helps him regain some of the confidence he’s lost since the puck ended in the second week of October.
That’s the confidence Montembalet needs, and the confidence the Canadians need from him. Especially after his last start, which came a week ago.
That’s when Montembeault gave up three goals on 10 Washington Capitals shots before guarding his net for Jacob Dobbs for the next two and a half games.
But after a week of hard work with Goldens coach Eric Raymond, and a few practices with the Canadiens, Montembilt regained some of his confidence against the Golden Knights on Friday.
After trading shots with the Canadiens in the opening minutes of the game, the Golden Knights registered the next eight in the game, dominated territorially, knocked the Canadiens on their heels, and forced Montimbault to stop the Storm.
With Mathieson in the box for slashing, he made a dam with three saves on a slot shot for Tomas Hartl.
It was reassuring to see Montembeault in such control.
He was well-positioned, patient and deserved a shutout that was handled by Mark Stone, who was left alone in front of him with just under five minutes to play.
But this did not detract from Montbeault who had been conditioned to put in over a week of work in preparation for this initiative.
“What I told myself all week was to stop thinking and just push,” he told reporters at T-Mobile Arena after making 29 saves in the 4-1 win.
Pushing was all Montembeault did directly after his disastrous attack against the Capitals.
It was 20 straight minutes in Sunday’s practice, with him pushing through his crease, pushing from post to post, pushing to the top of the blue paint, and pushing back to the goal line as he set and reset without fielding shots.
That put the 29-year-old forward from Beaconcourt, Que., back in the right frame of mind for what he did against the Golden Knights.
It gave the Canadians time to find their act. And after they did and built a 2-0 lead through two periods, they played as good a third period as we’ve seen from them this season – outscoring Vegas 2-1 and giving the Golden Knights one last burst of energy before the rock goal played them well.
Montembeault ended it, too, making saves on sharpshooter Jack Eichel and Pavel Drofiev before George Slafkowski fired into an empty net by Akira Schmid.
“Now is the time to build on it,” said Montem-Biolet, “and find it permanent.”
This is what Canadians need.
None of their goaltenders were in last Thursday’s 8-4 loss to Washington — and some time before that.
But Dobbs, who will play on Saturday against a Colorado Avalanche whose 11-game winning streak was snapped with a 3-2 shootout loss to the Minnesota Wild on Friday, stopped 24 of 26 shots in last Saturday’s 5-2 win over the Toronto Maple Leafs before stopping 31 of 31 in the NBA. 4-3 win for the Canadiens on Wednesday.
Their streak was extended to three on Friday thanks to goals from Evans, Slafkowski, Zach Boldak and Cole Caffield, but thanks largely to Montembeault’s display they lacked early in the game.
He hadn’t shown it since the start of the season.
But if Friday’s game was a sign that it’s Montembeault’s return, it will be a big one for both him and the Canadiens.
