For a third season in a row, Jake Allen will be the starting goalie for the Canadian’s opening game.
Allen himself confirmed it after Habs training on Tuesday, a few hours before the flight to Toronto.
“With all our information, our assessments, Jake gives us the best chance for tomorrow. But Montembeault will be a big part of our success this year. And he knows it. I believe in him. But for this first match, I thought Jake gave us the best chance,” replied Canadian head coach Martin St-Louis.
The two CH goalkeepers had a difficult camp. Allen showed an average of 4.02 and an efficiency of .854, figures barely better than those of Montembeault (average of 4.11, efficiency of .845).
Last year, on the other hand, the Quebecer presented the best statistical record.
Moreover, the lineup for the first match is not confirmed, but the trios in training remained the same as Monday. Josh Anderson was therefore back to the right of Nick Suzuki and Cole Caufield, in what is possibly the best trio of right-handers Montreal has seen since Dennis Martinez, Bryn Smith and Kevin Gross.
However, it remains to be seen who the reservists will be. On the attack, Michael Pezzetta was the extra man in the first trios exercises. No. 55 was involved in a lot of penalty kill drills, but so was Justin Barron, and the latter appears to be extra for Wednesday.
Speaking of defense, Barron formed the third duo with Jordan Harris, in the absence of Arber Xhekaj. On paper, Xhekaj was in the American League on Tuesday, but it appears that this is a maneuver related to the salary cap. Moreover, Joel Armia did not participate in CH training, even if he is still officially part of the training. In theory, the roles should be reversed at 5 p.m.: Armia will be transferred to Laval and Xhekaj recalled.
