Oilers HC Kris Knoblauch makes his feelings known about Montreal Canadiens' defensive effort in shutout loss

By Abhilasha Aditi

Modified Nov 19, 2024 14:24 GMT

Oilers head coach Kris Knoblauch shared his thoughts after Edmonton’s 3-0 loss to the Montreal Canadiens on Monday. Sam Montembeault made 30 saves for Montreal, recording his second shutout of the season.

Knoblauch gave credit to Montreal’s defense, which kept the Oilers to the outside and limited their chances.

[0:36] "A lot of a lot of credit to them defending, keeping us out to the outside and not getting beat." Knoblauch said.

Knoblauch said Montreal played well but he mentioned a few things the Oilers could do better. He talked about making more passes to create chances, avoid turnovers at the blue line, and more presence around the net.

Knoblauch gave credit to Montreal, saying:

[0:54] "But a lot of credit to Montreal, because they did a lot of good things."

Jake Evans, Brendan Gallagher and Kaiden Guhle scored the three goals for the Canadians. Evans had a goal and an assist, while Gallagher’s deflection late in the second period gave Montreal the lead. Guhle added a goal in the third, making the final score 3-0. Despite having the puck often, the Oilers struggled to get inside and create chances.

When asked about Montreal's speed, Knoblauch agreed they were fast.

[1:32] "Yeah, they had a lot of speed..." Knoblauch said. " Not so much difficulty for us defending, but the speed of them checking, not giving us time, space, they were able to skate and close."

The loss ended the Oilers’ four-game point streak. Edmonton struggled to score, with Connor McDavid, who had been on a hot streak, failing to get any points. The Oilers also missed Darnell Nurse, who is out for 5-10 days after taking a hit to the head from Ryan Reaves of Toronto.

The Oilers will need to improve in these areas if they want to bounce back from this loss. Montreal Canadiens’s defense and Montembeault’s strong play were the key factors in the shutout.

Sam Montembeault was the Montreal Canadiens' star in shutout performance

Sam Montembeault's 30-save performance helped the Montreal Canadiens keep top Oilers players like Connor McDavid, Leon Draisaitl, and Zach Hyman in check. His performance improved his stats to 6-8-1 with a 2.85 goals-against average and a .906 save percentage. Montembeault went on to give credit to his teammates after the win. He said:

“We blocked some shots, and Savard had big blocks in the third. Guhle made a key block and scored a big goal.” He added, “I’m proud of the way we played tonight. We’ve taken a good step defensively, and now we need to be consistent.”

With the win against the Oilers, the Montreal Canadiens have now won three of their last four games.