Tonight the Florida Panthers have rolled into Toronto, and you can get the expected lines in the preview here:
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Game Preview: Panthers stalk into Toronto
The Panthers, who seem to have misplaced James Reimer somewhere, are holding back Roberto Luongo for the game in Montréal, so the Leafs will face Samuel Montembeault, a rookie goalie playing in his ninth NHL game. He has an all-situations save percentage so far of .893.
What could go wrong with that, you ask?
When asked today how he plans to handle the pressure of playing in the big Toronto pressure cooker, Montembeault said:
Basically, I’m going to just stand on my head out there. We talked it over, me and Lu, and he said to me that no matter how many shots they throw at me, to just scramble and dive for it. Forty, fifty, even if they break that record they almost did recently, just keep scrambling. So that’s what I plan to do. I’ll save every single shot, you can bank on it.
In response to a question about facing the Leafs top shooters like Auston Matthews and John Tavares, Montembeault said:
Oh, it doesn’t matter. None of them can score on a goalie who is 22 or 23 and only playing in his first season. That’s been scientifically proven. Or Carter Hutton or Pekka Rinne. I have the stats if you want to see them.
Several Athletic reporters nodded enthusiastically, but the scrum was cut short by the Panthers staff.
There’s only one thing to do to counter this scientifically proven effect: Frederik Andersen as the power forward the Leafs have been missing. If anyone can score on Sammy, it’s him.
Go Leafs Go!
