Mr Viral
In December, when Samuel Montembeault was named to the Canadian team for the Four Nations Clash, he rewarded the Canadian leaders by having a big month.
When we break down his performances month by month, we can easily see that in December, everything was going well for him.
His average of 2.53 and save percentage of .909 were good (it’s his only month of the season with an average below 2.82 and his only month with a rate over .900) and he was playing a lot, as we remember. Cayden Primeau was not an option.
(Credit: ESPN)
But in January, it’s not the same story.
In January, Montembeault didn’t have the same numbers. Instead of eight wins, he has three. And above all, his average (3.40) and save percentage (.889) are not up to par. He’s not terrible, but he’s not like he was in December.
(Credit: ESPN)
Obviously, to put things in perspective, we need to compare his stats to three other goalies.
The first is Adin Hill, one of his opponents at the Four Nations Clash. Hill doesn’t have exactly a perfect save percentage (.898) in 2025, but he has a much better average: 2.64.
(Credit: ESPN)
Jordan Binnington, what about him?
The other goalie for Team Canada has three wins in January like the other two netminders… and he has a save percentage of .898. But like Hill, his average for the month is not in the 3.00 range: it’s 2.86.
(Credit: ESPN)
If we think that Team Canada might lean towards the hottest goalie at the moment, we can’t say that Monty is helping himself 100%, but his opponents aren’t perfect either. Fortunately for them, Jakub Dobes will not play for Team Canada…
In January, Dobes has an average of 2.30 and a save percentage of .917, making him a more effective goalie than the three on Canada. And he has four wins in January.
(Credit: ESPN)
Does the competition with Dobes (who is playing better than Montembeault lately, according to Stéphane Waite) not bring out the best in Montembeault, unlike the competition against Cayden Primeau in December? Or is it circumstantial?
Hard to say. But what we know is that the Quebecer will need to give a little more for the CH, which must live without Kaiden Guhle for the foreseeable future, to stay in the playoff race.
In brief
– Yes.
«He needs to find a way to get through this» https://t.co/9dVR9Ibhft
— TVA Sports (@TVASports) January 30, 2025
– Maxime Talbot: proud of Marc-André Fleury. [JdeM]
– It’s just a fan’s idea, but…
Mammoth it is pic.twitter.com/pTR1V93qdI
— The Colonel (@colby_colonel) January 30, 2025
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