Just over a week after allowing all the goals in a 10-0 loss to the Columbus Blue Jackets, Al Montoya will be back between the pipes for the Canadiens.
It’ll be a tough test for Montoya, as he’ll suit up against his hometown team, the Chicago Blackhawks.
“You hate to see what happened to him in Columbus,” said teammate and former Blackhawk Andrew Shaw, per the Montreal Gazette.
“You can’t blame him, you blame us. We were not there for him, we didn’t compete for him. We didn’t battle, we didn’t fight. We didn’t try to box out, we didn’t block shots like we need to do. We owe it to him.”
In all fairness to Montoya, he was fantastic in the four starts before the pounding in Columbus.
While Carey Price was out with an illness at the start of the season, Montoya stepped in and picked up wins in Buffalo, at home against Pittsburgh and at the Islanders. His only other loss came in a shootout decision against Ottawa.
On the other side, Corey Crawford will be between the pipes for Chicago.
Elsewhere...
--Stars head coach Lindy Ruff said he doesn’t expect to make any changes from their last game, which means Kari Lehtonen should start against Vancouver. It looks like Ryan Miller will start for the Canucks.
--Darcy Kuemper will likely get the start against Ottawa. Craig Anderson gets the call against Minnesota.
--The Bruins have yet to name a starter for their game against the Avs. Colorado will go with Semyon Varlamov.
--Rangers goalie Henrik Lundqvist started and won yesterday’s game against Calgary, so it’s unclear if he’ll play in back-to-back games. The Oilers will give Cam Talbot another crack at his former team.