The Montreal Canadiens played their final game of the 2022-23 season back on April 13th against the Boston Bruins, losing by a score of 5-4, which secured them the fifth-best odds in the draft lottery.
In the days following their final game, reports circulated that Canadiens goaltender Samuel Montembeault had committed to Hockey Canada for the 2023 IIHF World Hockey Championship, which was eventually confirmed weeks later.
According to Stu Cowen of the Montreal Gazette, Carey Price was acting as Montembeault's goaltending coach in the weeks leading up to the World Championship, with Canadiens forward Paul Byron also assisting by shooting pucks on the Habs netminder.
It appeared that Price's coaching helped Montembeault significantly as the 26-year-old made 23 saves for the shutout in Canada's opening game of the preliminary round on Friday afternoon against the co-hosts, Latvia. Canada has Saturday off, before back-to-back games on Sunday and Monday against Slovenia and Slovakia, respectively. Montembeault will likely be back in between the pipes for one of those games, while Sabres netminder Devon Levi will play the other.
