Montreal Canadiens Therrien Should Have Pulled Montoya vs Jackets
The Montreal Canadiens should have pulled Al Montoya against the Blue Jackets instead Michel Therrien chose to humiliate him.
The Montreal Canadiens came out and laid a dud of a performance against the Columbus Blue Jackets tonight. Al Montoya was not very good, but the loss was definitely not because of Montoya. The Canadiens came out flat and were outplayed right from the start.
The Blowout Begins
The game started getting out of hand by the end of the first period as the score was three to nothing after the first frame. The Canadiens could have used a boost or some type of spark to get the Habs skating again. That spark could have been inserting Price into the game, however Michel Therrien chose not to put Price in net.
More from A Winning Habit
The Habs continued to look uninterested and lazy when the second period began. The team could have pulled Montoya at any point in the period as Montoya gave up five more goals. Carey Price appeared to start stretching as if he was hoping to get into the game and relieve his partner, but again, Michel Therrien chose to do nothing.
Montoya was right back in the game to start the third period which is an absolute joke. Montoya looked really rattled and shaken by the Habs poor play infront of him. The Blue Jackets crowd was chanting “we want ten” after Montoya let the ninth goal in.
Of course the Blue Jackets managed to score again to make the score ten nothing. This was an absolute disgraceful decision by Michel Therrien not to pull Montoya from the game. Montoya looked very impressive in his first four games but after this performance his confidence could be shattered. This could be very damaging to the Canadiens as they are counting on Montoya to play a significant amount of games this season to keep Price healthy and not worn out come playoff time.
Final Thoughts
The Habs play had been trending in the wrong direction the past few games, but they were bailed out the past few games by brilliant play from Carey Price. The Canadiens clearly want to keep Price rested but humiliating your backup goalie is not the classy way to go.