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Canadiens Game Preview: Goaltending Situation At The Forefront
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- Canadiens Game Preview: Goaltending Situation At The Forefront
David Kirouac-Imagn Images
The Montreal Canadiens (6-3-0) are set to face the Vancouver Canucks (4-4-0), with the puck drop scheduled for 7 pm ET.
The Habs will be looking to avenge their most frustrating game of the season, a 6-5 loss to the Edmonton Oilers that featured its fair share of questionable officiating. Montreal managed to erase a two-goal deficit, establishing their own two-goal lead in the process, but five straight Oilers powerplays was too much to overcome.
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Cole Caufield scored two goals, including a highlight-reel play , pushing his season totals to seven goals in just nine games. As of Friday evening, he was tied for the NHL's lead in goals scored. Captain Nick Suzuki registered an assist, extending his scoring streak to eight games (1G, 11A).
ON TOPIC: Canadiens Trends – Goal Scoring And Rookie Production
Montreal took Friday off, and opted not to run practice on Saturday morning, which means we won't have any answers as to potential lineup changes until they take to the ice for the pre-game warm-up.
Montreal Canadiens Goaltending Situation
The biggest question mark remains which goaltender will be tasked with facing the Canucks. Rookie Jakub Dobes is currently undefeated, sporting a 4-0-0 record, and a fantastic .950 save percentage. Samuel Montembeault , on the other hand, is coming off two straight losses, and has seen his save percentage plunge all the way to .842.
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It's also worth noting Dobes leads in the NHL in both save percentage and goals-against-average (1.47).
If head coach Martin St-Louis has decided to adjusted his goaltending rotation , expect Dobes to get the start. However, there's also a chance he will use Saturday's game as a show of confidence in his starter, leading to consecutive starts for Montembeault.
As for the Canucks, they're in the midst of a two-game losing streak, with losses to the Pittsburgh Penguins and Nashville Predators earlier in the week, managing to score just one goal in each game.
The Canucks have scored 2.63 goals per game, good for fifth in the NHL, and well below the 3.56 goals per game (6th) produced by the Canadiens. Statistically speaking, this match-up favours the Habs by a wide margin, but the best part about the NHL is that every night features several upsets.
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Montreal Canadiens Projected Lineup
Cole Caufield — Nick Suzuki — Juraj Slafkovsky
Alex Newhook – Oliver Kapanen – Ivan Demidov
Josh Anderson – Jake Evans – Brendan Gallagher
Zach Bolduc – Kirby Dach – Joe Veleno
Arber Xhekaj – Alexandre Carrier
Samuel Montembeault / Jakub Dobes
Vancouver Canucks Projected Lineup
Evander Kane – Elias Pettersson – Conor Garland
Jake DeBrusk — Max Sasson – Brock Boeser
Arshdeep Bains – Aatu Raty – Kiefer Sherwood
Drew O'Connor – Nils Aman – Linus Karlsson
Marcus Pettersson – Pierre-Olivier Joseph
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Elias Pettersson – Tyler Myers
How To Watch
The Montreal Canadiens versus the Vancouver Canucks, Saturday, October 25, 2025, will be aired on HNIC and TVA Sports. An instant recap will be available on Sportsnaut as soon as the final whistle blows.
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