Samuel Montembeault will be in net tonight: Jakub Dobes still waiting his turn

Dose
Crédit: MONTREAL, CANADA- NOVEMBER 4: Matvei Michkov #39 of the Philadelphia Flyers attempts to score on Sam Montembeault #35 of the Montreal Canadiens during a shootout at the Bell Centre on November 4, 2025. (Photo by Matt Garies/NHLI via Getty Images)

The Canadiens and Kings cross swords tonight at the Bell Centre.

What we do know is that Nick Suzuki skated this morning and there are no extras in town at the moment. So it’s easy to go 1+1 and speculate on which 18 skaters will play tonight.

It’s been the same refrain for the past few games.

But in front of the net, it’s different. After all, the Canadiens have two goaltenders who can play, and #1 is slowly finding his feet.

And on the heels of today’s early morning practice, we understand that it’s the Québécois who will be in action.

This means that Montembeault will get his second start in a row. And of necessity, goaltending is still a hot topic.

Martin St-Louis chose to go with his #1 goalie at home, in the first game of three this week. I expect Monty to play on Saturday night, too, against the Bruins.

But on the other hand, Jakub Dobes was the NHL’s third star in October… and he’s only played one game in November, so far. That was on November 6, in New Jersey.

We should expect to see Dobes on Thursday against Dallas, in my opinion.

(Credit: ESPN)

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Since #1 is doing well, playing him makes sense. But Dobes must, at some point, wonder what more he can do to get more playing time.

That would be a humane reaction. And that’s despite the fact that the two of them get on well together.

However, I agree with Martin St-Louis’ decision on this one: Monty needs to build on his win against the Mammoth to try and get the W tonight.

Let the internal competition continue.