Without Samuel Montembeault, the Habs would have four fewer wins

Samuel Montembeault allowed two late goals Tuesday night in Dallas against the mighty Stars. However, if it hadn’t been for his prowess beforehand, the Montreal Canadiens would surely not have come away with a .500 record on this trip.

The Tricolore’s number 1 goaltender is very solid in front of his cage, even if he can sometimes give a lisp when short-handed. At 5-on-5, for example, Monty is fabulous, ranking among the best on the circuit in this regard.

If we value the goal scored at 5-on-5, it goes without saying for the performance of the goaltenders, doesn’t it?

Monty was named first star of the evening with a 4-3 win, his fourth of the season. Another theft by the Quebec cerberus. With a total of nine thefts, the bleu-blanc-rouge is at the top of this category.

Sam Montembeault was named 1st star in last night’s 4-3 win vs Dallas – his 4th steal of the season. A look at all goalies who have stolen wins in over 20% of their starts……
Canadiens 9 steals leads the league.
(Steal=goals saved above expected>goal differential) pic.twitter.com/omZopvWTB7

– Mike Kelly (@MikeKellyNHL) January 3, 2024

To fully understand goalie “steals”, they are actually goals saved above expected versus goal differential.

In terms of numbers, number 35 is tied with Joseph Woll for second place, behind the excellent Ilya Sorokin. In percentage, he ranks second behind Woll, who is currently on the Leafs’ list of crippled players. Cayden Primeau also has a 25% success rate, putting him on a par with Monty.

In short, Samuel Montembeault steals a game every five games or so, a singular feat. A fanatic who looks only at save percentage and/or goals-against average will say that Montembeault is ordinary with his 90.3% efficiency rating…

Hence the importance of analyzing duels in order to judge the athletes’ performances. The paper is far from summing it all up!

Breaking news

– Excellent column on the Canadiens’ defencemen.

My column on the Canadiens’ defencemen continuing to spark the team’s offense with 30 goals this season – tied with Colorado for the most in NHL. All nine defenceman who have played for #Habs this season have at least one goal #HabsIO: https://t.co/hvyyGRx2ln

– Stu Cowan (@StuCowan1) January 3, 2024

– Statistics on the rise in the QMJHL.

Quick #QMJHL post with the start of January

Last year, 948,420 spectators attended the 322 games between Sept. and Dec.
(Average 2945/game)

This year in the same period 1,041,614 in 326 games
(Average 3195/match)

This is a fine progression

– Stephane Leroux (@StephRDSJunior) January 3, 2024

– 150,000 people watched the women’s hockey game on RDS2. WOW!

Over 500,000 people watched the Canadiens-Stars game last night on RDS (average per minute). Good numbers overall.

On RDS2, nearly 150,000 people watched the women’s hockey game between MTL and OTT. Excellent start; it was at the same time as the Habs.

– Maxime Truman (@MaximeTruman) January 3, 2024

– By the way, the first guest to appear on the JD Show is none other than Dan Richard of RDS. The show will be live on Twitter/X as well as Facebook.