Montembeault lands 4 Nations Face-Off spot with Canada after solid start with Canadiens

MONTREAL -- Sam Montembeault threw down the gauntlet in his first opportunity to compete with two Stanley Cup champions to be Canada’s starting goalie at the 4 Nations Face-Off.

On Dec. 4, the Montreal Canadiens goalie was named, along with Adin Hill of the Vegas Golden Knights and Jordan Binnington of the St. Louis Blues, to Canada’s roster for the best-on-best tournament that will be held from Feb. 12-20, starting at Bell Centre and concluding at TD Garden in Boston.

The Canadiens’ No. 1 goalie will start when they host the Anaheim Ducks on Monday (7:30 p.m. ET; RDS, Prime, Victory+).

“It was a nice vote of confidence,” Montembeault said. “There were several general managers throughout the League working together to assemble the team, so it’s nice to see that there are some who have confidence in me to be one of the three goalies who will represent the team.

“But it’s two months from now. There’s a lot that can happen between now and then, so I’m just going to concentrate on the games here.”

Montembeault wasted no time in that regard, recording his third shutout of the season in a 3-0 win against the Nashville Predators on Thursday. He’s tied with Winnipeg Jets goalie Connor Hellebuyck, who was named to the United States roster, for the NHL lead in shutouts.

But Montembeault faces stiff competition in the battle for Canada’s crease; Hill won the Stanley Cup with Vegas in 2023, and Binnington won it with St. Louis in 2019. Montembeault is 8-11-2 with a 2.89 goals-against average and .905 save percentage in 21 games (20 starts) this season for Montreal (10-14-3).

“They’ll probably go with whoever is hot when the tournament starts,” Montembeault said. “There isn’t much time to practice before it begins, so it will probably be the goalie who’s in the best groove who will get to start. So, it’s up to me to play some good hockey right now.”

Montembeault won a gold medal playing for Canada at the 2023 IIHF World Championship, where he had a 1.42 GAA and .939 save percentage with one shutout in seven games, including a 5-2 win against Germany in the final.

The thought of this time being part of a team featuring Canada’s elite players, including Connor McDavid, Nathan MacKinnon and Sidney Crosby, excites him, as does the opportunity to face the best players from the U.S., Sweden and Finland in the first best-on-best NHL tournament since the World Cup of Hockey 2016.

“All the best players are going to be there, so it’s fun to be a part of it,” Montembeault said. “Just thinking about the practices, it’s going to be crazy with all the guys, McDavid, Crosby and MacKinnon, all together. It’s going to be very high-level hockey, so it’s going to be a lot of fun.”

Montembeault began this season with a 48-save shutout in a 1-0 win against the Toronto Maple Leafs in the Canadiens season opener Oct. 9.

He has allowed five goals in the eight games he has won, including seven starts and one after relieving Cayden Primeau. He has a 0.68 GAA and .978 save percentage in those games.

“He gives us a lot of confidence back there to know that if something goes south, he's back there to make a save, or save our bacon a little bit,” Montreal defenseman Kaiden Guhle said. “So, he's been huge and he's playing really well right now.”

Prior to this season, the 28-year-old from Becancour, Quebec, had one NHL shutout in 128 starts with Montreal and the Florida Panthers, who placed him on waivers on the eve of the 2021-22 season.

Selected by the Panthers in the third round (No. 77) of the 2015 NHL Draft, Montembeault was claimed by the Canadiens on Oct. 2, 2021. He did not play in the NHL in 2020-21, going 8-4-1 with a 2.86 GAA and .898 save percentage in 13 games with Syracuse of the American Hockey League after making his first 19 NHL starts for Florida over the previous two seasons.

With Carey Price unavailable to begin the 2021-22 season, Montembeault was brought in to back up Jake Allen and ended up playing 38 games, including 30 starts. He went 8-18-6 with a 3.77 GAA and .891 save percentage in his first season with Montreal, which started a full rebuild after a surprising run to the 2021 Stanley Cup Final.

Now in his fourth season with the Canadiens, he’s their No. 1.

“I think for him it has happened gradually,” Montreal coach Martin St. Louis said. “I think for us who are on the inside, we're not surprised that he is where he is. One, I think, is his work ethic; two, I think, is his mindset, his attitude. He doesn't get too high, he doesn't get too low, you know, he's just very process driven. And I think it allows him to just have a short memory.

“Whether it was good or bad, he just comes the next day and does his thing. And I think with that he found some consistency and his level is just, I feel like it's been going up and up and up and up.”