Habs Highlights: Montembeault Vs. Dobes Debate Resurfaces

The Montreal Canadiens hosted their longtime rivals, the Toronto Maple Leafs, on Saturday night, the third meeting between the two Canadian clubs this season.

Head coach Martin St-Louis opted to give Samuel Montembeault the start, preferring to keep his white-hot rookie goaltender Jakub Dobes for the second leg of the back-to-back games.

The Habs started the game on the right not, as evidenced by their 3-0 first period lead, but things quickly fell apart in the second and third periods, leading to a 7-2 Maple Leafs win.

Let’s dive into the highlights!

Second-Line Production

It took a while to get here, but the second line is starting to produce at 5v5, as evidenced by their fifth even-strength goals in the last three games. Kirby Dach scored his ninth of the season, and while he certainly deserves credit for the goal, it must be said the entire team contributed to the scoring play by pinning the Leafs deep in their own zone for an extended shift.

Dach now has seven goals in his last 11 games, and if you’re wondering why we’re discussing 11 games instead of 10, it’s because he scored a pair of goals 11 games ago. Is it an arbitrary cutoff? Absolutely, but it does serve as a reminder that the 23-year-old forward has recovered from a very difficult start to the year.

Kirby Dach opens the scoring for the #GoHabsGo after the team pinned Toronto in its own zone. pic.twitter.com/VR6PlkK0Bv

— Marc Dumont (@MarcPDumont) January 19, 2025

Patrik Play

Second-liner Patrik Laine did not score his goal at 5v5, but he did manage to do something incredibly surprising.

Believe it or not, Laine scored on the powerplay. I know, I know, it’s tough to process, and even more difficult to accept, but I saw it with my own eyes. His 11th goal of the year gave the Canadiens a well-deserved 2-0 lead in the first period.

This is going to shock everyone, but Patrik Laine scored on the powerplay! #GoHabsGo up 2-0 on the Leafs. pic.twitter.com/mmitaLeKKp

— Marc Dumont (@MarcPDumont) January 19, 2025

The cherry on top of Montreal’s great start was a play that featured Josh Anderson embarrassing former Hab Max Domi on his way to scoring a highlight-reel goal.

The fantastic individual effort allowed the Canadiens to enter the first intermission with a 3-0 lead, a crucial cushion against a team like Toronto that possesses a long list of potent offensive weapons.

Josh Anderson walks Max Domi on his way to scoring a great goal. #GoHabsGo now have a well-deserved 3-0 lead on Toronto. pic.twitter.com/Ls7AyrX3UT

— Marc Dumont (@MarcPDumont) January 19, 2025

Game Management

With the Habs up 3-0, Arber Xhekaj refused to fight Ryan Reaves, who was desperately attempting to make himself useful as he chased the play all night long. For the record, Reaves refused to fight Xhekaj the last time these two teams met.

Scoreboard. pic.twitter.com/elXKRfeSBR

— Matt Drake (@DrakeMT) January 19, 2025

Xhekaj did oblige Reaves with some physical play shortly afterwards, sending the 37-year-old scrapper to the ice with a big, clean hit.

Arber Xhekaj with a big hit on Ryan Reaves. #GoHabsGo pic.twitter.com/7pdHz0jBwO

— Marc Dumont (@MarcPDumont) January 19, 2025

Reversal Of Fortunes

We’re used to the Habs falling behind the eight-ball early, and then completing an impressive, hard-earned, comeback win thanks to a surge in the second half of the game.

This time around, it was the Leafs who took control of the momentum midway through the second period, leading to seven straight Leafs goals, including two powerplay markers, not to mention a shorthanded goal by Auston Matthews.

You could argue Montembeault did not have his best game, and you’d be correct, but all things considered, the Leafs were clearly the better team from the moment the Canadiens established a 3-0 lead.

As for the short-term goaltending situation, if Dobes manages to have yet another impressive start on Sunday, pushing his career record to 5-0 in the process, the Habs should probably consider giving him an even split of starts with Montembeault going forward, at the very least.

If Dobes goes 5-0 tomorrow night does he start Tuesday against Tampa?

— Alexi (@FT_Alexi) January 19, 2025

The goal is not to disrespect Montembeault, who has provided the organization with a laundry-list of quality starts over the years, but there’s a potential playoff berth in play, and the Canadiens simply can’t afford the luxury of ignoring a dominant goaltender at this stage of the rebuild.

The Montreal Canadiens are back in action on Sunday. They will host the New York Rangers at the Bell Centre, with the puck drop scheduled for 7 pm ET. All Montreal Canadiens statistics are 5v5 unless otherwise noted, via Natural Stat Trick.