Kent Hughes backs goalie battle after Kirby Dach scare

Kent Hughes brought the real news Monday morning. Dach's latest injury is believed to be minor, not major, which changes the mood around Montreal right away after another scare involving a player who has already missed time this season.

That matters because Dach had finally started to give the Canadiens usable middle-six minutes again. He has 8 goals and 14 points in 29 games, and even that stat line doesn't fully show how much his size and puck support help St. Louis down the middle.

Hughes also made it clear he has no regret about standing pat at the deadline. That lines up with what he said on March 6, when he stressed that Montreal liked its group and didn't want to make a move just to make noise.

That's the bigger takeaway here. The Canadiens are still betting on internal answers, and Monday's comments made that plain. No panic trading. No rush to patch over every problem with futures going out the door.

The crease is where this gets interesting fast. Hughes said the goalie who gives the club the best chance to win will play, and that turns every start into a live audition with real stakes.

Jakub Dobes has put himself right in the middle of that fight. He owns a 21-6-4 record in 31 games, and his win over Toronto on March 10 only added to the pressure on the coaching staff to keep riding the hot hand.

Samuel Montembeault is still in that battle too, but the numbers show why the conversation won't go away. He sits at 10-8-4 with a 3.43 goals-against average and an . 872 save percentage.

This isn't a brand-new stance from Hughes either. Back on January 6, he said the goalies who play the best will play the most, so Monday's message sounded more like a warning shot than a fresh slogan.

And there's another layer here. Jacob Fowler was recalled on March 11 and already has a 4-4-2 NHL record, plus a .902 save percentage, so Montreal still has extra traffic around the crease.

That makes St. Louis' next decision one of the biggest lineup calls on the board. He now has a healthier outlook on Dach, a front office still backing the room, and zero cover to give away starts based on reputation alone.

For the Canadiens, Monday wasn't just about an injury update. It was Hughes telling his room the plan has not changed and telling his goalies that the net belongs to the one who grabs it.

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