It looks like the Canadiens have another injury problem to deal with.
Goalie Samuel Montembeault left practice early Wednesday in Brossard after falling awkwardly in his crease during a drill and appearing to injure his right leg or groin.
“We all saw it,” Canadiens head coach Martin St. Louis said after practice. “I saw the same thing as you guys.”
St. Louis added that Montembeault was being evaluated by the team’s medical staff.
Wednesday evening, the Canadiens announced they had recalled goalie Jacob Fowler from the AHL’s Laval Rocket. Fowler could suit up Thursday, when the Nashville Predators visit the Bell Centre (7 p.m., TSN2, RDS), if Montembeault can’t go.
Montembeault has yet to play a game this season after winning the backup job behind Jakub Dobes at training camp. Montembeault stopped 34 of the 35 shots he faced in three pre-season games.
Dobes has played in all three regular-season games so far, posting a 1-1-1 record with a 4.43 goals-against average and an .856 save percentage.
Fowler was sent down to Laval after training camp. In two games with the Rocket, Fowler has a 1-1 record with a 1.53 GAA and a .945 save percentage.
Montembeault is coming off a terrible season in which he posted a 10-8-4 record with a 3.43 GAA and an .872 save percentage. The previous season, he suffered two torn muscles in his groin during Game 3 of a first-round playoff series against the Washington Capitals. The Canadiens lost that series in five games, with Dobes taking over for Montembeault.
Before last season, Montembeault had three solid years, posting save percentages of .901, .903 and .902, respectively.
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Montembeault could join a growing list of injuries for the Canadiens this season.
On Tuesday the team announced that forward Ivan Demidov would miss two to four weeks with a lower-body injury. Forward Oliver Kapanen has missed the first three games of the season with a lower-body injury and is listed as day-to-day. Defenceman Kaiden Guhle has yet to play a game this season following summer surgery on an adductor muscle. The Canadiens announced on Sept. 16 that Guhle, who has started practising again with his teammates, would be sidelined for another four to five weeks.
I grew up dreaming of being an NHL defenceman or an MLB pitcher, but that didn’t happen. Fortunately, I was able to find another path to work in sports and have been part of The Gazette sports department since the early 1980s, including a 12-year stint as sports editor before becoming sports columnist in 2015. It’s a great job and I’m a lucky guy.
scowan@postmedia.com