Canadiens takeaways: Montembeault, Gallagher and Caufield impress vs. Blue Jackets

MONTREAL — This was an important outing for Samuel Montembeault.

Never mind that he was on the losing end of the 2-1 score versus the Columbus Blue Jackets, because if it wasn’t for Montembeault – especially through the first half of play – the Montreal Canadiens would’ve lost this game before all the good things they did over the final 30 minutes gave them a chance to win.

The 25-year-old goaltender was sensational, stopping 18 shots in the first period and 24 more before the final buzzer, and it mattered a lot considering what happened just a couple of hours before the puck dropped.

The Canadiens announced earlier on Saturday they had acquired Minnesota Wild goaltender Andrew Hammond in exchange for forward Brandon Baddock.

Of course, this move was made to allow struggling 22-year-old goaltender Cayden Primeau to return to the AHL, where he’ll begin the process of redeeming his confidence. And this move was overdue.

But Canadiens management was previously in a bind to get help. With Carey Price, Jake Allen and Michael McNiven hurt, Montembeault and Primeau were the only goaltenders on NHL contracts available to the team. Already two contracts short of the NHL’s 50-contract limit and wanting to maintain some flexibility ahead of the March 21 trade deadline, signing Laval Rocket goaltender Kevin Poulin to a deal was a stricken possibility. And with no assurances Price would return before the end of the season, the Canadiens, who are up against the cap, weren’t in a position to trade for a goaltender earning a significant salary.

As a result, Kent Hughes’ first deal as Canadiens GM was an even-money swap for a goaltender with 56 games of NHL experience.

Hammond earned the nickname “the Hamburglar” when he stole many games and went on a remarkable 20-1-2 run to help the 2014-15 Ottawa Senators save their season and qualify for the playoffs. The luster wore off the following year, when Hammond won just seven games in 24 appearances, and it’s been gone ever since.

He has appeared in just seven games in the NHL since the beginning of the 2016-17 season.

Given that, it would be easy to argue Hammond poses no threat to Montembeault, and that he’ll even allow Montembeault to get more rest and potentially heal up a wrist injury that’s plagued him since January. A wrist injury that may still require surgery down the line.

But watching Montembeault compete the way he did in this game, after his play had understandably slipped due to the pain he was feeling and the way the Canadiens were playing in front of him, it was clear he doesn’t see it that way.

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Montembeault knows Hammond’s arrival means more competition for him, and he was already in a fight for his NHL career to start. He came to Montreal (via waivers from the Florida Panthers earlier this season) on a mission to prove he could be a reliable option at this level, and injuries to Price and Allen have given him the best opportunity to do it.

Montembeault played on Saturday like someone who doesn’t want that opportunity to disappear. He also played through considerable pain to do it.

“It’s always in the back of your head,” Montembeault said. “You don’t want to … if the shot is coming, you’re going to maybe hesitate. So, you’ve got to put that aside and not think about it and just battle and go hard every shot.”

Doing that on Saturday showed how hard Montembeault is willing to battle. It revealed a lot of character, and it made a strong impression on both his new coach, Martin St. Louis, and on his teammates.

He’s been making that impression on them for quite some time.

“He comes in to work,” said Tyler Toffoli. “Obviously, if things don’t go as well, he does a good job of bouncing back. … Today was another day of him playing incredible and keeping us in the game early and giving us a chance to win.”

Montembeault didn’t have a chance to stop Patrik Laine’s game-winning power-play goal with just over seven seconds remaining. He didn’t have a chance on the first goal of the game, either. And he came up with sensational saves throughout this one to give the Canadiens life.

So long as Montembeault keeps doing that, he’ll continue to show he can play at this level. And, to repeat, doing it the way he did on Saturday – with another goaltender coming in – mattered.

As the Montreal crease goes from practically vacant to potentially overcrowded, with Hammond arriving and McNiven, Allen and Price all working toward returns before the trade deadline, Montembeault still has an opportunity to secure a role with the Canadiens. And if the latter two are able to return soon, then perhaps he’ll earn a role with another team because of what he’s showing.

That’s the Gallagher we know

This has been anything but an easy season for Brendan Gallagher. For multiple reasons, he just hasn’t appeared like the guy who earned a six-year, $39-million contract before it started.

But on Saturday, for the first time in months, Gallagher looked much more like himself. He finished the game with four shots on net and six attempts, he notched a team-high five scoring chances, and he was ever-present in front of Elvis Merzlikins’ net.

Part of the reason Gallagher has only four goals and 10 points through 28 games is because he’s been injured and sick throughout.

He suffered an injury on Oct. 31 and played through it after missing only one game. He then missed seven games with COVID-19.

Just four days after returning, Gallagher suffered another lower-body injury on Dec. 31. He missed 10 games and was only able to return on Jan. 30 – for the last game the Canadiens played before taking their bye week.

Meanwhile, when Gallagher was healthy enough to play, the Canadiens were missing so many players that he was being shuffled around the lineup on a nightly basis.

Before Saturday’s game, we asked Gallagher how he can recapture his best performance.

“For me, first and foremost, I’ve got to stay healthy,” the 29-year-old said. “I’ve got to be in the lineup. I’ve gotta find a way to build some chemistry here and maybe stick with a line and build some stuff. It has been frustrating. I’d be the first one to admit that there’s been a lot of things you’d like to have go differently. We have 36 games, I believe, to correct that. Stay healthy, try to find a way to build some chemistry on a line and produce every night.”

In the first of those 36 games, Gallagher lined up with Mike Hoffman and Paul Byron for a second straight game, and St. Louis came away from his performance confident he’ll get back on track.

“I like his game,” the coach said. “I’ve been a big fan of his. I know he was a big fan of mine, but I have a lot of respect for the way he plays. He plays hard, he plays with emotion. He’s the kind of guy who takes care of the team when he’s on the ice, whenever that is.

“I thought tonight he was all over it. He had a really good game. I know he wants to have a great second half, and what I saw tonight was really good. If he can manufacture that and hit the repeat button and keep doing that for the rest of the year, I think he’s going to find himself and look back on the season and say to himself, ‘You know, I wasn’t that bad.’ I think he’s hard on himself, like every other player who competes like him, and he wants to have success. I think if he keeps playing the way he played today, he will find success and probably look back on his season and say it wasn’t that bad.”

Cole Caufield coming along

This may be a tough week for the Canadiens, who’ve lost all three games they’ve played and have extended their winless streak to nine games – they haven’t lost as many games in succession since the 1939-40 season – but it was Caufield’s best week of the season.

He was one of the only players to stand out in the 7-1 loss to the New Jersey Devils that turned out to be Dominique Ducharme’s final game as Canadiens coach, and he built on that performance to score goals in consecutive games under his new coach.

After scoring just one through his first 30 games, he saw the puck go in off his stick three times—one was called back for offside—over the last two.

And Caufield’s goal on Saturday was the kind of goal you score when you’re feeling confident.

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St. Louis liked one specific thing about it.

“I know he has speed, but it’s about when you use your speed and when you hide. He has good rhythm,” he said. “On his goal, if he had skated too fast, he’d have skated past the area from which he’d be able to score.

“That’s a very important thing for a player who scores a lot, an elite player. The control of his speed is very, very important, and I like his control of speed right now.”

There’s a strong chance that, and everything else Caufield is doing, will lead to more goals down the stretch.

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