MONTREAL — Sam Montembeault left in the second period for the Montreal Canadiens, and Logan Thompson left in the third period for the Washington Capitals in Game 3 of the Eastern Conference First Round at Bell Centre on Friday.
Neither starting goalie returned in what resulted in a 6-3 win for the Canadiens, and it’s unclear if they will be available for Game 4 here on Sunday (6:30 p.m. ET; CBC, TVAS, SN, TBS, truTV, MNMT, MAX).
Montembeault, who allowed two goals on 13 shots, left with 8:21 remaining in the second period after having a conversation with Jim Ramsay, who is Montreal’s director of sports medicine and performance, during a television timeout.
He was replaced by Jakub Dobes, who made seven saves on eight shots. Montreal had an emergency backup goalie, Patrick Chevrefils, in uniform soon after Montembeault left the game.
The Canadiens did not issue an update on the reason for Montembeault’s departure and coach Martin St. Louis did not give an update, but it appeared the goalie was favoring his left leg.
Montembeault, though, was in the tunnel high-fiving and hugging his teammates as they came off the ice following the win.
Montembeault went 31-24-7 with a 2.82 goals-against average, .902 save percentage and four shutouts in an NHL career-high 62 games (60 starts) in the regular season. He allowed five goals on 63 shots (.921 save percentage) in Games 1 and 2 of the series against the Capitals.
Dobes, a 23-year-old rookie, was 7-4-3 with a 2.74 GAA, .909 save percentage and one shutout in 16 games (15 starts).
“Obviously, he’s a massive part of our team,” Canadiens forward Josh Anderson said. “He’s been solid all year, solid in these playoffs so far. It [stinks] to see him go down like that, but it’s the next man up. Obviously, Dobes gave us some good minutes tonight and we have full belief in him. So, we’ll see how it is tomorrow.”
The Canadiens have a scheduled day off on Saturday, but it’s possible they will provide an update on Montembeault’s status for Game 4.
Thompson was replaced by Charlie Lindgren after he was run into by teammate Dylan Strome just as Juraj Slafkovsky gave the Canadiens a 5-3 lead with 6:37 remaining in the third period.
Thompson appeared to put little weight on his left leg as he was helped off the ice by Strome and Capitals forward Brandon Duhaime. At one point, Thompson tried to stand on his own but nearly fell over.
“Not sure,” Capitals coach Spencer Carbery said when asked about the concern level for Thompson. “Haven’t talked to the trainers yet. So, I’ll get an update and then we’ll go from there.”
Thompson allowed five goals on 35 shots in Game 3. He allowed three goals on 61 shots (.951 save percentage) and earned the win in Games 1 and 2 at home.
Lindgren gave up one goal on five shots in relief.
“To be honest with you, I didn’t see what happened, but we have two good goalies,” Capitals captain Alex Ovechkin said. “If something happens we always have a backup.”
Thompson was 31-6-6 with a 2.49 GAA, .910 save percentage and two shutouts in 43 games (42 starts) this season. Lindgren was 20-14-3 with a 2.73 GAA, .896 save percentage and one shutout in 39 games (38 starts).
The Capitals also have Clay Stevenson here as their third goalie. The 26-year-old made his NHL debut in a 5-2 loss to the Pittsburgh Penguins on April 17 after playing 33 games with Hershey of the American Hockey League, where he went 18-8-4 with a 2.94 GAA and .888 save percentage.
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