Montreal Canadiens goaltender Sam Montembeault of Becancour, Quebec, suffered his second National Hockey League shutout of his career on Wednesday. He achieved this feat in the Canadiens’ 1-0 victory over the Toronto Maple Leafs at the Bell Center in Montreal, Quebec.
Montembeault totaled 48 saves. He made 19 saves in the first period, 13 saves in the second period and 16 saves in the third period. Mitch Marner of Markham, Ont., and Auston Matthews each led the Maple Leafs with six shots on goal. The 48 saves set an NHL record for the most saves made by a goaltender in a team’s first game of the season in a shutout.
The Canadiens scored their only goal of the game at 7:48 of the first period. On the power play, Cole Caufield scored ahead of Kirby Dach of Fort Saskatchewan, Alberta and Juraj Slafkovsky.
Montembeault’s first NHL shutout came on February 23, 2022. He made 32 saves in the Canadiens’ 4-0 victory over the Buffalo Sabres.
The Canadiens were one of three Canadian teams to win on Wednesday. The Winnipeg Jets defeated the Edmonton Oilers 6-0, while the Calgary Flames defeated the Vancouver Canucks 6-5 in overtime. The Flames celebrated an impressive comeback. They trailed 4-1 at one point before coming back and winning. Connor Zary of Saskatoon, Saskatchewan scored the overtime winner for Calgary.
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