Is It Too Early For Samuel Montembeault to Get A Start?
Montreal Canadiens head coach announced to the media on Monday that goaltender Samuel Montembeault will get the start on Tuesday night against the defending Stanley Cup Champion Florida Panthers. With both Aleksander Barkov (out for the year) and Matthew Tkachuk currently still out with major injuries, this isn’t the same Panthers team as it was, but it will still be a big first test for the Habs’ struggling netminder to get his first NHL start since December 2nd against them. Is it too early for Montembeault to get a start?
Montembeault sera de garde contre les Panthers mardi
Montembeault gets the start against Florida on Tuesday#GoHabsGo pic.twitter.com/W1dXxRBC8L
— Canadiens Montréal (@CanadiensMTL) December 29, 2025
While the Panthers are a big challenge for Montembeault, he played some of his best hockey against them last season. A huge reason that he plays some of his best hockey against the Panthers is that he still wants to show them that they should regret having put him on waivers during the preseason of 2021. The Habs then claimed that they needed an NHL-calibre goaltender. He proved to be a very solid pickup and was playing good hockey for the Canadiens up until this year. Playing against the Panthers may be part of the process to get him back to being a reliable goaltender again, as he’s putting up one of the worst numbers of any netminder in the NHL. It seems like playing the Panthers really gets his competitive juices out. In 15 games, Montembeault has a 5-6-1 record with an abysmal .857 save percentage and 3.65 GAA.
Over the years, Montembeault has shown to be more emotional when losing to the Panthers than any other team, such as the shootout loss he sustained against them on February 29th, 2024, where he was pissed leaving the ice. We have yet to see the competitive version of him aside from one game against the Vegas Golden Knights this season. Therefore, playing on a team where he has a 4-0 record with a 2.01 GAA and a .930 save percentage in his last 4 games since that shootout defeat is maybe the best chance he has to eventually rediscover his game.
There is a lot on the line for Montembeault heading into Tuesday’s game, and he can’t afford to have a bad game to save his NHL career. If he doesn’t perform against the Panthers, Montembeault could be sent back to the Laval Rocket again, but rather than a conditioning stint, it could be through waivers, which the Habs are likely trying to avoid, but he truly became unplayable in early December after posting disappointing performance after disappointing performance.
It wouldn’t be surprising if Martin St. Louis and his coaching staff asked Montembeault which game he wants to prove himself in, and because he has had success against the Panthers, he chose this game as his potential matchup to work his way back into the rotation. However, this could truly be his last chance if he blows this game.
Worst NHL Goalies by GSAx | Dec 26
1. Jordan Binnington #StlBlues -19.594
2. Linus Ullmark #GoSensGo -15.993
3. Sam Montembeault #GoHabsGo -10.788
4. Leevi Merilainen #GoSensGo -10.257
5. Frederik Andersen #CarolinaCulture -8.592
6. Elvis Merzlikins #CBJ -7.947
7. Sergey… pic.twitter.com/2Qnt0uFUej— Benchrates (@benchrates) December 26, 2025
The goaltender situation will stay a controversy until everything is finally cleared up with Montembeault’s play, but he will certainly have a short leash after all the issues he’s had in the first part of the season.
With his history against the Panthers, this game may truly be the best one for Montembeault to prove that he still belongs with the Canadiens. He will come out and be motivated to both beat the team that drafted him and also fight for his NHL career. Hopefully, it all goes well, and the Habs come away with the win because this could be risky to give Montembeault a start already. However, there may never be a better opportunity for the Habs netminder to prove himself.
How do you feel about Montembeault getting the start on Tuesday?
