Canadiens' Sam Montembeault left speechless after brutal Kraken game

The Montreal Canadiens were embarrassed by the visiting Seattle Kraken on Tuesday night at Bell Centre in Montreal, dropping an 8-2 decision to the visiting Seattle Kraken who built up a 4-0 lead by the time the first period was barely halfway through.

The Kraken got goals from Mike Matheson, Ryker Evans, Jaden Schwartz, and Oliver Bjorkstrand, all of whom beat goaltender Sam Montembeault. The embattled Habs goaltender even received a sarcastic Bronx cheer from the crowd when he made a routine save amidst the onslaught.

He was eventually replaced between the pipes by Cayden Primeau after allowing a fifth Kraken goal on only 10 shots, while the Canadiens dropped to 4-5-1 through the first 10 games of the 2024-25 schedule.

Afterward, Montembeault admitted that the embarrassing loss left him speechless, via TSN.

“I don’t have the words — it’s embarrassing,” Montembeault said. “We don’t want to play games like this at the Bell Centre in front of our fans. We’ve gotta come out stronger and I have to make stops.

“It’s a game to forget, it goes straight in the trash.”

Professional hockey players, especially goaltenders, are best served by having a short memory of poor performances, as it will hamper their outlook moving forward. Montembeault is doing the right thing by putting the memory of the rough game into the trash – but now needs to bounce back.

It's been an up-and-down year for Canadiens G Sam Montembeault 

Montembeault enjoyed an incredible opening-night victory for the Habs against the historic Original Six and divisional rival Toronto Maple Leafs on October 9, making NHL history with the most saves in a season-opening shutout with 47.

Since then, he's endured starts where he's surrendered five, three, four, and five goals against the opposition, respectively. His current stat line of a 3.67 goals-against average and save percentage of .891 aren't exactly starter-worthy numbers, making his opening-night performance all the more vexing.