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In Hainsight: Allen Gets the Nod for Opening Night in Toronto |
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Follow me @KarineHains for all updates about the Montreal Canadiens and women's hockey
After what seemed like a never-ending training camp, the Canadiens will finally be playing their first game of the season tonight in Toronto. Yesterday, prior to the team traveling to Leafs land, it was revealed that Jake Allen would be the starting goaltender for Montreal. This came as a bit of a surprise to many as most (including me) believed that Samuel Montembeault would be the number one goaltender this season.
While all eyes were on the rookies trying to crack the roster during training camp, the Canadiens’ netminders had a pretty rough time of it, but it went largely unnoticed. In the early stages, Cayden Primeau looked very nervous in intra-squad games, but once the actual preseason games started, he seemed much more comfortable and managed to convince the Habs’ brass not to wave him (2.05 GAA and .932 SP), meaning that for now at least, the Canadiens have three goaltenders on the roster.
As for Jake Allen and Samuel Montembeault, they posted nearly identical stats during training camp. Jake Allen’s GAA stood at 4.00 while Montembeault’s was even higher at 4.09. On the save percentage front, Allen’s was .854 and Montembeault’s was .845. Those are hardly good numbers, but still, Martin St-Louis decided to give the net to Allen tonight and explained: “Everything we had, our evaluations, Jake gave us the best chance to win tomorrow. Mounty will be a big part of our success this year though and he knows how much I believe in him”.
Considering how both of his NHL level goaltenders had rather ordinary camps, it’s not that shocking to see St-Louis give the net to the one who’s got more seniority. Besides, tonight’s game is in Toronto while the Canadiens’ net outing will be on Saturday night, for opening night in Montreal against rookie sensation Connor Bedard. Unless Allen stands on his head tonight and offers a lights-out performance, I see Samuel Montembault getting the start at home. In other words, the reaction to Allen getting the nod was, in my opinion, a tempest in a teapot.
The same goes for the face that Arber Xhekaj was sent to Laval on Monday night, it was only a paper transaction for cap purposes and the rugged defenseman travelled with the team to Toronto and should be dressed tonight.
As the countdown to the first faceoff of the season winds down for the Canadiens, fans need to remember that once again this season, it’s not about the result but about the growth of the team as a whole and that of the players individually.
Tonight, I’ll be keeping a close eye on the second line pivoted by Kirby Dach and flanked by Alex Newhook and Juraj Slafkovsky. During media availability, Newhook mentioned that he didn’t need to take time to get acclimated to his new team and its system, he would have been quite happy with hitting the ground running as a center. Still, the new number 15 looks excited to start in the top six and to be playing with his linemates from last game. As for Slafkovsky, he’s starting his sophomore season in a very good disposition, and he looked like a new man during training camp. He’s much more solid on his skates, he’s better at winning battles, he’s not afraid to go to the busy areas and he’s always ready to take a shot.
Will the Canadiens manage to spoil the Leafs’ home opener tonight like they did last season? It’s not completely out of the realm of possibilities, after all, it was 3-1 eh?
Montreal Canadiens Blogger • 
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