MONTREAL — When Sam Montembeault came out to start the second period of a game the Montreal Canadiens were trailing 3-0 to the Tampa Bay Lightning, a game that remained barely within reach, it was an opportunity to allow his club to stick with the plan.

Instead, Montembeault gave up a goal on the first shot he saw, after the Canadiens had already put three on goal at the other end, to put the game out of reach. It was the fifth time this season Montembeault allowed the first shot he saw to beat him.

Montembeault is not the reason the Canadiens lost 6-1 to the Lightning Tuesday, but he has put together a long track record of allowing deflating goals this season. In his first start of the season on opening night in Toronto, he allowed a goal a minute into the game, though it was the Maple Leafs’ third shot on goal. In his next start in Chicago, after Cole Caufield gave the Canadiens a 1-0 lead in the second period, Montembeault gave up a goal on the next shot he saw.

Against the Los Angeles Kings Nov. 11, he allowed a goal on a long slap shot from Joel Edmundson at 1:17 of the second period with his team leading 1-0, and gave up another exactly three minutes later. The Kings won the game 5-1. Against the Ottawa Senators Dec. 2, Juraj Slafkovský gave the Canadiens a 1-0 lead at 3:37 of the first period, and Montembeault allowed a goal to Fabian Zetterlund 24 seconds later, a one-timer from distance.

Two goals by Tampa Bay’s Darren Raddysh Tuesday night emphasized the problem. Montembault’s angles have been off all season.

Here is Raddysh’s first goal. Hell of a shot, but that can’t go in.

Sheeeeesh, what a goal 👏 pic.twitter.com/2cSwWLp6FX

— Tampa Bay Lightning (@TBLightning) December 10, 2025

Here is Raddysh’s second goal. Not a hell of a shot, and also can’t go in.

No doubt about this one 😊 pic.twitter.com/dQ4WMgaIeP

— Tampa Bay Lightning (@TBLightning) December 10, 2025

This was the fourth time the Canadiens have lost by at least four goals since that 5-1 loss to the Kings Nov. 11, all but one on home ice. The Canadiens have the second-worst team save percentage in the NHL at .870, a hair ahead of the last-place Edmonton Oilers at .869.

The plan this season was to have prized goaltending prospect Jacob Fowler spend his first full season of professional hockey at AHL Laval, where he has been thriving. But that plan was predicated on Montembeault and Jakub Dobeš providing sufficient performances, which Montembeault has shown he can do.

The game might have been lost already when Montembeault entered to start the second period, after Lightning goaltender Jonas Johansson had turned away four or five great first-period scoring chances in his second game in 24 hours, while his teammates scored twice.

“It’s deflating for sure,” captain Nick Suzuki said. “Our line could have scored right there on our first shift a couple of times, a couple of looks. And then they get a breakaway with a guy coming out of the box, just misexecuted, and it’s 2-0 pretty quickly. It’s definitely deflating for us.”

The famous quote from Mike Tyson is, “Everybody has a plan until they get punched in the mouth.”

The Canadiens’ plan for Fowler changed Tuesday when the Lightning punched them in the mouth. A few minutes after coach Martin St. Louis said, “My press conferences at home are starting to suck,” the Canadiens announced Fowler, defenceman Adam Engström and forward Owen Beck had been called up from the Laval Rocket, who play at home Wednesday night against the Toronto Marlies.

With the trade market frozen, Canadiens management had few options to address the situation other than what’s in Laval. Calling up Fowler when the Canadiens are this leaky defensively seems like a bad idea. Goaltenders take time to be ready for the NHL because the NHL can be a cruel place for goaltenders. Their confidence can crumble extremely quickly, as this Canadiens season has clearly shown.

But calling up Engström and Beck as well is evidently a message: It’s not only the goaltending that stinks right now.

“Obviously we know what to do, whether it’s a lack of preparation or effort on our side, it’s unacceptable. We’ve got to be a lot better,” Cole Caufield said. “It was pretty embarrassing tonight.”

The postgame call-ups overshadowed an important subplot for the Canadiens.

Lightning coach Jon Cooper spoke to reporters 90 minutes before puck drop, knowing full well his role as Team Canada’s Olympic coach would come up. He was stunned it took four minutes before he had to field a question about it.

Cooper is not part of the Team Canada management team — his GM Julien BriseBois is — but there is no doubt Cooper influences who gets selected. He made a point of stating that the management team scouting these players live has a better perspective than he does of who is playing well and who isn’t, but he still gets to see the same ones on a regular basis.

“My best viewing of players is when I get to see them up close, in the game, and how they’re impacting it,” Cooper said. “I will say this: I usually get phenomenal efforts from whatever Canadian is on the other team, so that’s worked against me.”

Suzuki is Canadian. He was on the other team Tuesday. Cooper did not get a phenomenal effort from him, which was not Suzuki’s fault. His team has a tendency to have these duds, particularly at home.

Cooper has always admired Suzuki’s game and has consistently spoken well of him. One game won’t destroy the impression Suzuki made on the man he hopes will be his coach in Milan two months from now.

“I really got to meet him in Calgary this summer, so that was the first time I really got to sit down and have conversations with him. Really bright and intelligent kid,” Cooper said of Suzuki. “Another part of it is I’ve been with Marty (St. Louis), I’ve been his coach, we’ve fostered a friendship, he’s a colleague now, and I really, really respect him and his mind for the game. You watch him, and he’s played in the Olympics, and you see the way he uses Suzuki, and it’s a lot. So that’s always a good sign.”

After Suzuki was done answering questions about this “embarrassing” loss, after he was done talking about how a young team is prone to deflating moments and how a team that began the season as the youngest team in the league has only gotten younger because of injuries to Kaiden Guhle, Kirby Dach, Alex Newhook and Patrik Laine, Suzuki was gathering his things when we snuck in one more question.

Did he get up for this game a little bit more because he was facing the Canadian Olympic coach?

Suzuki didn’t hear the question at first. He asked for it to be repeated. And once he was sure he heard it right, he paused momentarily as he began walking to the refuge of the players’ lounge.

He put a resigned look on his face and nodded as he continued walking toward that refuge. This was a big game for him. And his team let him down.

Suzuki wasn’t perfect. He’s definitely had better games. But his Olympic candidacy will not be judged by one game.

Yet that was still a motivational factor for the Canadiens, and they failed to live up to the moment. They forced management to act as though they’d been punched in the mouth.