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Canadiens Goalie Jake Allen (Lower-Body) Out Eight Weeks

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Montreal Canadiens, Jake Allen

Following their 4-3 overtime loss to the Vegas Golden Knights, the Montreal Canadiens announced that goaltender jake Allen will be out for eight weeks with a lower-body injury.

Allen was injured during the first period in a 5-1 loss to the Boston Bruins on Jan. 12 and left the team’s current seven-game road trip to return to Montreal for further evaluation on January 13. Allen has missed the last four games for the Canadiens. The 31-year-old netminder is 5-16-2 with a 3.15 GAA and .901 save percentage this season and has two shutouts.

The Montreal Canadiens started the 2021-22 season without their starter Carey Price, who voluntarily entered the NHL’s player assistance program on Oct. 7 and is also recovering from a torn meniscus. There is no timetable for his return and the Habs recently announced that due to the recent COVID pauses that the team went through over the last month, Price has now been forced to restart his return to play process.

At the time of Allen’s injury, Sam Montembeault was the Habs’ backup goalie and following the game in Boston, the Montreal Canadiens recalled rookie goalie Cayden Primeau. Montembeault started the next night in Chicago and made 28 saves in a 3-2 overtime loss to the Blackhawks. Primeau got the nod this past Monday in Arizona but struggled and was pulled after allowing four goals on 16 shots in the first two periods of a 5-2 loss to the Coyotes. Monetmbeault stopped all six shots on the third period of that game and has been brilliant for the Montreal Canadiens in the two games since.

The 25-year-old goalie and Becancour, QC native, who was a 2015 third-round pick of the Florida Panthers, stopped 48 of 51 shots in a 5-3 win over the Dallas Stars on Tuesday. Then he did all he could to help the Montreal Canadiens win Thursday, making 49 saves in the loss to the Knights on Thursday. Montembeault has now 95 of 102 shots in his last two starts as the Habs allowed 50 or more shots in two-straight games for the first time in franchise history.

Following the loss Thursday night, there was no word on what the Montreal Canadiens will do with their goaltending situation as they headed to Denver after the game, to play the Colorado Avalanche on Saturday night.