The Montreal Canadiens kicked off their pre-season on Monday at home in a matchup against the New Jersey Devils at the Bell Centre. Unfortunately for Habs fans, there wasn't much to celebrate in this one.
The Habs dropped a 4-2 decision to the Devils, potentially losing Juraj Slafkovsky to an injury and also seeing Samuel Montembeault give up a very early 'worst goal of the year' candidate in the second period.
After the Habs took a second period penalty, the Devils went on the attack. Defenseman Simon Nemec, 2nd overall pick in 2022, dumped the puck into the Canadiens zone from center ice in what appeared to be an innocent, routine dump and chase scenario. However, when the puck bounced off the boards and came towards Samuel Montembeault, he wasn't quite set the way he wanted to be and the puck had hopped over his skate and rolled up his side, finally coming to rest in the net before he could get tight to the post. It truly was something to behold:
I know it's only the pre-season, but there's no question that Montembeault would definitely like to have that one back. Goaltenders have to be pretty even keel to avoid letting plays like that one get to them, but there's no question that it must have been embarrassing for Montembeault to let that one in during his first appearance of the year.
