As goalie problems peak, coach St. Louis says Canadiens have regressed

MONTREAL – Martin St. Louis famously said the Montreal Canadiens “puked all over” themselves following a 6-3 loss to the Washington Capitals on Oct. 31, 2024.

A little more than 12 months later, the Canadiens’ head coach was feeling sick to his stomach again.

“Tonight, there were moments that made me feel like that,” St. Louis said. “There’s just some moments out there tonight that I’m disappointed about.”

The Canadiens (10-7-3) lost their fifth straight game — and their seventh in eight outings — as Alex Ovechkin scored a hat trick in an 8-4 Capitals win at the Bell Centre on Thursday night.

And the good vibes from an electrifying start to Montreal’s season, sparked by a talented young core coming off a surprise playoff berth last spring, are long gone.

“I’m disappointed because it’s as if we went back in time a little bit tonight,” St. Louis said. “Our good was good, but we shot ourselves in the foot. It’s as though we went back 14 months.”

Montreal’s goaltending situation — the most glaring and talked-about issue since opening night — is also reaching a breaking point.

Sam Montembeault was pulled after allowing three goals on 10 shots as his struggles continued. Jakub Dobes entered 3:38 into the second period and stopped 21 of 25 shots.

Montembeault, a reliable No. 1 last season and one of Canada’s goalies at the 4 Nations Face-Off, now has an .852 save percentage and a 3.71 goals-against average, with just four wins in 12 games.

Dobes opened the year with six straight wins, but he’s now on a four-game losing streak with a 2.96 GAA and an .892 save percentage.

Since Nov. 1, the tandem has a combined .849 save percentage, ranking 31st in the NHL.

St. Louis fielded question after question about his goalies, but spread the blame across the roster.

“Can our goalies play better? Yes, and they’d be the first ones to tell you that,” he said. “But we’re going to keep going. You want me to say I want more saves? Everyone wants more saves. Of course the goalies can play better, but I won’t blame it all on the goalies. 

“There are other things that happen on the ice where we can help them a lot better.”

St. Louis was then asked to expand on what he thought his team could do better, and showed some frustration in his answer.

“Get pucks deep, commit fewer giveaways, defend better, get the puck out of the blue paint, take fewer penalties, block shots, grab the sticks in front of the net,” he said. “Do you want more?”

On Montembeault’s last goal, Ethen Frank beat him on a soft wrist shot for his second of the night. The fans then clapped and cheered when Dobes jumped onto the ice to replace the 29-year-old from Becancour, Que.

“We still got all the belief in them to figure it out,” captain Nick Suzuki said. “Everyone goes through tough times in the season and it just gets magnified as a goalie, obviously.

“They’re both hard workers, they want to keep getting better and give ourselves a chance to win with them in the net. So I just give them some positivity.”

Not every goal was on the goalies. 

Ovechkin’s first came on a blistering wrist shot directly off a faceoff, and his second finished off a well-executed 2-on-1. Frank buried his first while standing wide-open in the slot, and Jakob Chychrun walked in uncontested from the point before cranking a slap shot past Montembeault.

Sonny Milano — another two-goal scorer on a night the Capitals piled up points — capitalized on a turnover, danced around Montreal defenceman Alexandre Carrier and beat Dobes on a deke as the Canadiens’ netminder slid well out of position.

“I think point blank, we’re just giving up way too much,” defenceman Mike Matheson said. “We’re giving up odd-man rushes, breakaways, point-blank shots in the slot. No matter how your goalie’s feeling, that’s not gonna help them. So we’ve got to fix that.”

GR8 ONE

Ovechkin pushed his NHL-record goal total to 907 with his 33rd career hat trick, tying Brett Hull for fourth in league history. The 40-year-old Russian also added an assist and moved past Joe Sakic for 10th on the all-time points list with 1,643.

“I don’t know, I just try to do my job,” Ovechkin said. “Enjoy the moment and enjoy the time. You never know what’s going to happen, right?”

WILSON’S HIT

Capitals bruiser Tom Wilson set up Chychrun’s goal with a hard hit on centre Jake Evans, who was later ruled out for the rest of the game. The Canadiens are already down injured forwards Alex Newhook, Kirby Dach and Patrik Laine, and defenceman Kaiden Guhle.

St. Louis said after the game that he didn’t like Wilson’s hit.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 21, 2025.