Montreal Canadiens: Al Montoya Looking for Revenge vs Jackets

Montreal Canadiens Goaltender Al Montoya will look for redemption tonight, after a poor performance the last time the Habs played the Blue Jackets.

The last time the Montreal Canadiens played the Columbus Blue Jackets, the Habs got smoked 10-0. Habs Goaltender Al Montoya was in net that night, and he allowed all 10 goals in the loss. However, Montoya wasn’t the only one to blame for the loss, because the whole team forgot to show up that night.

Their was much debate after that game as to whether or not Montoya should have been pulled after allowing that many goals. Head Coach Michel Therrien chose to leave Montoya in goal, and not risk Carey Price getting injured. The Canadiens season fell apart when Price went down to injury, and Therrien certainly doesn’t want to see Price get hurt again.

However, it is dangerous for the confidence of a player, having everything go wrong around them, without any good result. During the that game you could hear Columbus fans chanting “we want ten,” after Montoya allowed the 9th goal. So it will be interesting to see how Montoya will respond to the Blue Jackets crowd tonight.

Since that game though, Montoya has responded with a few solid performances for the Canadiens. Besides that one loss, Montoya has given the Canadiens a solid back up Goalie that can be relied upon. Montoya proved this during the beginning of the season when Carey Price missed the first few games because of the flu.

Final Thoughts

It was smart for Therrien to give Montoya a chance to redeem himself, because the Canadiens may have to play in Columbus again during the playoffs. Also, the Canadiens will probably be looking for revenge as a team and will want to give a better effort for Montoya. Hopefully the Canadiens will play a solid 60 minutes and head into the Holiday break with a win.