Habs' Montembeault will be in net Friday night against Sabres

BUFFALO, N.Y. -- Goaltender Samuel Montembeault will start in net Friday for the Montreal Canadiens against the Buffalo Sabres, confirmed head coach Dominique Ducharme.

Montembeault will be looking for his second win of the season after defeating the Nashville Predators 6-3 at the Bell Centre last Saturday.

The Habs are playing back-to-back games this weekend.

Ducharme says he plans to call goaltender Jake Allen, who returned Wednesday night in a 6-3 loss to the Capitals in Washington, back in net against the Penguins in Pittsburgh on Saturday.

Ducharme adds he will once again use an 11 forward, seven defenceman lineup after it worked well against the Predators.

Ducharme confirms 11 forwards and 7 defensemen will be used tonight. Norlinder will replace Paquette in the lineup.

Sam Montembeault starts in goal, while Allen starts on Saturday night.#GoHabsGo

— Canadiens Montréal (@CanadiensMTL) November 26, 2021

He indicated that forward Cedric Paquette will give up his spot in the starting lineup, leaving his place to defenceman Mattias Norlinder.

The 21-year-old Swede will play his third career NHL game.

"We're going to shuffle the deck," said Ducharme. "It's a combination of things. It gives us options in the back, it gives us a different pace in the front as well. And Cedric, with the injury he had, it will allow him to get his rhythm back even more."

Ducharme also notes defenceman Joel Edmundson will not return to the game in the short term -- even suggesting that he will miss Monday night's game at the Bell Centre against the Vancouver Canucks.

Edmundson practiced with his teammates earlier this week, but has yet to suit up in the bleu-blanc-rouge since the start of the campaign.

"He's not ready yet. He's getting close, but he's not ready," said Ducharme. "The next step is for him to take contact... So, when he comes back to Montreal, if he goes in the right direction, he's going to practice with contact and be more ready than he is now."

This will be the second game this season between the Canadiens (5-14-2) and the Sabres (7-10-2).

The New York State team won 5-1 on Oct. 14 with Montembeault as starting goalie.

The Sabres are also having a tough run of form, losing their last four games.

They are in 13th place in the Eastern Association, four points ahead of the Habs.

The game starts at 7 p.m. at the Key Bank Center in Buffalo.

-- This report by The Canadian Press was first published in French on Nov. 26, 2021.