It’s been more than four days since Al Montoya suffered through one of the worst losses in Canadiens franchise history, allowing 10 goals in a now-infamous drubbing by Columbus.
Turns out Montoya needed all that time to compose his thoughts on the matter.
“It was a lot to process,” Montoya said, per TSN’s John Lu. “It’s good for me now. It was a tough day.”
In Montoya’s defense, it really was a lot to process.
Consider:
-- He went into Friday’s game with a 1.47 GAA and .955 save percentage.
-- He exited with a 3.15 and .908.
-- He became the first Montreal goalie to allow 10 goals in a game since Andre “Red Light” Racicot did it back in 1992.
-- The Habs responded to the blowout by winning their next two games with Carey Price in goal.
What’s more, head coach Michel Therrien’s decision to keep Montoya in for the duration of the Columbus nightmare came under heavy scrutiny, and was the topic of great debate.
So it’s understandable why the backup netminder wanted to take his time, collect his thoughts and come out with some sort of party line to share with the media.
That line?
Did Montoya feel he took one for the team? "Yeah, I think so. When you sigh up for this position you kind of know it." #Habs
— Kyle Bukauskas (@SNkylebukauskas) November 9, 2016
#Habs Montoya acknowledges that he "took one for the team" by staying in for the entire game vs Columbus.
— John Lu (@JohnLuTSNWpg) November 9, 2016
One has to think this is what Therrien and goalie coach Stephane Waite told Montoya during the game. Therrien did say Waite went to the beleaguered netminder between periods, and told him he’d be playing out the string.