No goaltending controversy in Montreal as Allen returns to Canadiens' net

BROSSARD, Que. – If you’re hoping for a good, old-fashioned goaltending controversy in Montreal, you’re going to be disappointed.

On Wednesday, Jake Allen stepped in front of reporters for the first time since suffering an upper-body injury in early January and delivered a message that made it clear he’s not going to stir up drama. The 32-year-old, who signed a two-year, $7.7-million contract extension at the beginning of the season, has always been all about the team, and he said that nothing over the last few weeks – while he’s been sidelined and watching Samuel Montembeault’s star rise – has changed that.

Allen, who’s ready to return to action, mentioned other goaltenders might sour seeing their net get overtaken by the hot hand, but he understands his role with the Canadiens is to help shepherd the team’s young prospects at the position to a better place, and he’s as thrilled as anyone to see Montembeault taking huge strides along that road.

“I’m super happy for Sam,” Allen said about the 26-year-old who’s made 264 stops on the last 284 shots he’s faced and put up the NHL’s second-best save percentage (.930) in the eight games he played since Allen got hurt. “(Montembeault’s play has) done a lot for this group, too, because I think you’ve seen us play extremely hard, especially the last few games, despite injuries in our lineup, and he’s giving them confidence. And whatever that means for our group, whether it’s me or him, so be it.”

If it means Allen will start less frequently than he did through the first half of the season, he’s willing to accept that without allowing it to affect the way he approaches his job.

“Sam’s doing his thing, mine is just do my thing,” Allen said. “Whenever I get in the net – I’m not sure (when that will be) yet – it’s to just get in there and just be me. I want Sam to keep rolling. If Sam keeps rolling, keeps playing, that’s better for this team. That’s the way I approach it. I’m just going to try to get a little better every game.”

This is what it is to be a model teammate, which is something Allen has been since he landed with the Canadiens in 2020.

He accepted his role behind Carey Price and worked relentlessly to earn – and keep – the respect of his teammates. And he’s done the same thing from the starter’s role, ahead of Montembeault and Cayden Primeau.

He’ll continue to do it, even if it means sharing his net more.

“People always say that word, competition, internally; ‘How do you push each other?’” said Allen. “It’s whatever’s best for the group. That’s the situation I see. I’ve always seen it that way. Yeah, you’re a competitor on the ice. Everyone is in this league and this sport.

“But, from the goaltending standpoint, we’re just trying to be the best version of ourselves and the best person for this team and best asset for this team.”

When we asked him what’s technically enabled Montembeault to be best for the Canadiens over the past few weeks, he said, “He’s just been way more patient on his feet.”

“I think patience is something that’s always been talked about in goaltending, but I think in today’s day and age, considering how fast the game is and how skilled the offensive teams are, and it’s just an offensive-minded league from all 32 teams, that patience is clutch,” Allen said. “It’s key. And when you have that, and you have your confidence. ... As you can see right now, Sam’s on a roll. He’s on a heater, and I’m super happy for him. He’s probably played the best in the league the last couple of weeks, and that’s what he’s been doing: he’s been patient, he’s been confident, and he’s a good goalie. I knew that as soon as I saw him last year, and I’m glad he’s getting a chance to really open some eyes.”

Montembeault still has much to prove before becoming a No. 1

That doesn’t mean Montembeault should immediately be anointed the No. 1 goaltender of the Canadiens.

Not to detract from what he’s earned, but there’s something to putting him in a 50-50 split with Allen to see how he handles the pressure of being pushed a bit. It’s pressure he certainly hasn’t faced in Allen’s absence.

Going to a split is also a logical step for Montembeault to take from here to actually test if he can one day become a starter for this team, which isn’t under any pressure to win games but will be regularly over the years to come.

Being in that type of situation would also be a more accurate simulation of what’s to come for Montembeault in years when the Canadiens are in fact competitive because, as Allen alluded to on Wednesday, even the teams with the best goaltenders in the world rarely rely on one exclusively.

He talked about the way the game is played now – at lightning speed and with a greater emphasis on offence than in years past – and pointed to two more factors as well in why the net is shared all across the league.

“It’s a very momentum-strong position,” said Allen. “One goalie can get hot for 15-20 games, get the team 10-12 wins, and then the next thing you know the other goalie gets hot for 10 or 12 games and gets the team seven or eight wins. It’s more about what works for that position, and I also think there’s just so much talent in the position, and opportunity, and I also think the salary cap has something to do with that too.”

As the money goes to building high-octane offence, there’s only so much of it available for goaltenders.

Allen even posited he could see teams carrying three goaltenders in future years.

Don’t give up on Montreal’s third goaltender yet

If there’s anything Montembeault’s surge at 26 should tell us, it’s that it’s foolish to suggest that Primeau will never become the goalie most fans thought he might turn into after he came off two tremendous seasons at Northeastern University to sign his first contract with the Canadiens.

He appeared to be a 2017 draft-day steal with the 199th overall pick, and the possibility he fulfills that promise down the road shouldn’t be discounted. Primeau is just 23, he’s in the first year of a three-year contract, and it takes time to develop at this position.

It did for Montembeault, and the Becancour, Que., native is still in development.

It also took Allen a long time before he became a reliable goaltender for the St. Louis Blues.

“There’s very few, and I’ve said it before, Carey Prices or (Andrei) Vasilevskiys,” said Allen. “Those guys have God-given talent that a lot of us don’t, unfortunately. And a lot of it is experience. It’s confidence. It’s understanding what works for you as a goalie. What works for Sam might not work for me, and vice versa. It takes a long time to really understand what works.

“There are transitions in how the game is played, too, and we’ve seen it the last five, six years in the way the game is played. Some goalies can adapt to it, some can’t. For some, it suits their game and for some it doesn’t. There’s a lot of variables.”

Primeau has dealt with a fair deal of them since joining the organization, and he’s had his ups and downs – from his strong play with Laval, to getting overly exposed behind arguably the worst Canadiens edition of all-time for a portion of last season, to a great showing in the Calder Cup playoffs, and then dealing with injuries, like the concussion he recently had.

“It was a pretty bad one,” Primeau told us just over a week ago, and he was referring to the head injury and not the incredibly dysfunctional team he was playing behind last year in Montreal.

The 6-foot-2, 199-pound goaltender has his work cut out for him to get his level of play back up to his own standard – and even more ahead of him to get to where the Canadiens would love to see him go.

But the people who are saying he’ll never get there are the same ones who watched Montembeault struggle last year and said he would never be able to stop a beach ball, let alone a puck.

They are the same people banging the drum for Montembeault to start every game moving forward and wanting to cast Allen aside now.

Allen isn’t paying them any mind, and he’s definitely not listening to anyone dismissing Primeau’s ability to find his way to the top.

“I think Preems is still in that development stage,” he said. “I think Preems has a great future, I really do. From his technical and physical ability, it’s probably above mine, no question.

"But I think it’s just experience, and building that skill set in his game, and taking the time he needs. I think he signed a three-year deal. I talked to him the other day – and obviously he hasn’t played in a little while and he had the injury – to see how he’s doing and just to make sure he knows he’s going back there (to Laval) and just because Sam is playing well doesn’t mean he isn’t part of the future. I can see both those guys being here in the future, both of them being a tandem on this team. Just because one guy is playing well (isn’t to the) detriment (of) another guy. I think there’s lots of opportunity, whether it’s this year, next year or the year after.

"Like I said, sometimes it takes longer for goalies to develop and just keep moving along that path. It’s going to open – the door – at some point, but it’s not a rush either. I think sometimes when you rush in that position, it just sets you backwards.”