• HOME
  • NHL Teams
    • North Division
      • Calgary Flames
      • Edmonton Oilers
      • Montreal Canadiens
      • Ottawa Senators
      • Toronto Maple Leafs
      • Vancouver Canucks
      • Winnipeg Jets
    • East Division
      • Boston Bruins
      • Buffalo Sabres
      • New Jersey Devils
      • New York Islanders
      • New York Rangers
      • Philadelphia Flyers
      • Pittsburgh Penguins
      • Washington Capitals
    • Central Division
      • Carolina Hurricanes
      • Chicago Blackhawks
      • Columbus Blue Jackets
      • Dallas Stars
      • Detroit Red Wings
      • Florida Panthers
      • Nashville Predators
      • Tampa Bay Lightning
    • West Division
      • Anaheim Ducks
      • Arizona Coyotes
      • Colorado Avalanche
      • Los Angeles Kings
      • Minnesota Wild
      • San Jose Sharks
      • Seattle Kraken
      • St. Louis Blues
      • Vegas Golden Knights
  • Headlines
  • NHL Rumors
  • NHL Prospects
  • World Juniors
  • Archives
  • Podcast Network
  • More…
    • CHL
      • Ontario Hockey League
      • Quebec Major Junior Hockey League
      • Western Hockey League
    • Columns
    • Women’s Hockey
    • Other Leagues
    • NHL Entry Draft
    • Books
    • NHL History
  • Log in
The Hockey Writers
  • Site Index
  • NHL Salary Caps
  • Hockey 101: A Beginner’s Guide
  • Join Our Team
  • Free Newsletter
  • Store
  • Log in
The Hockey Writers
  • HOME
  • NHL Teams
    • North Division
      • Calgary Flames
      • Edmonton Oilers
      • Montreal Canadiens
      • Ottawa Senators
      • Toronto Maple Leafs
      • Vancouver Canucks
      • Winnipeg Jets
    • East Division
      • Boston Bruins
      • Buffalo Sabres
      • New Jersey Devils
      • New York Islanders
      • New York Rangers
      • Philadelphia Flyers
      • Pittsburgh Penguins
      • Washington Capitals
    • Central Division
      • Carolina Hurricanes
      • Chicago Blackhawks
      • Columbus Blue Jackets
      • Dallas Stars
      • Detroit Red Wings
      • Florida Panthers
      • Nashville Predators
      • Tampa Bay Lightning
    • West Division
      • Anaheim Ducks
      • Arizona Coyotes
      • Colorado Avalanche
      • Los Angeles Kings
      • Minnesota Wild
      • San Jose Sharks
      • Seattle Kraken
      • St. Louis Blues
      • Vegas Golden Knights
  • Headlines
  • NHL Rumors
  • NHL Prospects
  • World Juniors
  • Archives
  • Podcast Network
  • More…
    • CHL
      • Ontario Hockey League
      • Quebec Major Junior Hockey League
      • Western Hockey League
    • Columns
    • Women’s Hockey
    • Other Leagues
    • NHL Entry Draft
    • Books
    • NHL History
Home
Montreal Canadiens
Canadiens Goaltending

Ben Scrivens Providing A Crucial Spark To Montreal’s Fading Playoff Hopes

By Derek Neumeier February 10th, 2016

Facebook Twitter LinkedIn WhatsApp

On December 28th the Montreal Canadiens made a seemingly inconsequential trade, gladly sending away a forward disgraced by his off-ice problems in exchange for a pricey veteran goaltender toiling away in the AHL.

Now, that newly added goaltender is offering a faint glimmer of hope that just might save Montreal’s entire season.

Ben Scrivens, the 29 year-old goaltender that the Canadiens acquired in exchange for Zack Kassian, has won his last three straight games, allowing just four combined goals over that span. The most impressive of these wins came on Tuesday night as he stopped 37 out of 39 shots against a very dangerous Tampa Bay Lightning offense to secure a 4-2 win.

While three consecutive wins might not seem like much, they’re an immeasurably huge deal right now for a Canadiens team that has been in an absolute freefall. They won a total of just six games in the months of December and January as they dropped from 1st place in the Eastern Conference all the way down to outside of the playoff picture.

Montreal still sits outside of the playoff picture, three points away from the last wildcard spot in the conference, but those three wins, collected primarily by Scrivens, are the best thing to happen to the team in months and give them the optimism, however slight, that the season can still be salvaged.

Scrivens is – to offer the biggest understatement of the year – no Carey Price, the reigning NHL MVP that has carried the Habs a lot more than anyone seemed to realize but still remains sidelined with an injury. Heck, Scrivens wasn’t even playing in the NHL just a few short weeks ago.

That being said, though, he’s a goaltender that’s probably a lot better than his recent history suggests. Scrivens was highly regarded a few short years ago while playing for the Toronto Maple Leafs, Los Angeles Kings and Edmonton Oilers, up until a disastrous 2014-15 season as the starter in Edmonton. The Oilers decided to bring in two entirely different goalies for 2016 and wound up burying Scrivens in the AHL to make room.

He’s also, crucially, a better goaltender than Mike Condon and the recently-traded Dustin Tokarski, the two younger goalies that were asked to step in for Price and, completely understandably, failed to do so. While Scrivens still needs to do a lot more than just win three games to establish himself as a legitimate NHL goaltender once again, and there are still a bunch of other issues that the Canadiens also need to sort out, this is at least a nice start for Montreal to get back into the hunt for the postseason.

It would certainly be a great story, though. Even if it’s one that we already just heard.

  • Tags
  • Ben Scrivens
  • Devan Dubnyk
  • Zack Kassian
Facebook Twitter LinkedIn WhatsApp

Get theScore App Now!
Recent Posts
Jan 23rd 8:00 PM
Columbus Blue Jackets

Blue Jackets Thrilled To Bring Laine, Roslovic On Board

Jan 23rd 6:58 PM
Montreal Canadiens

Canadiens’ Price Still Has Room to Improve Early in 2020-21

Jan 23rd 4:05 PM
All-Star Weekend

25 Years Later: The FoxTrax Glowing Puck Makes Its Debut

Jan 23rd 3:50 PM
Boston Bruins

Bruins Should Play Grzelcyk With McAvoy

Jan 23rd 3:23 PM
Toronto Maple Leafs

Maple Leafs Are Being Too Patient With the Puck

Jan 23rd 2:20 PM
Pittsburgh Penguins

Penguins’ Pierre-Oliver Joseph Shines in NHL Debut

Jan 23rd 2:10 PM
Anaheim Ducks

Ducks Prospects: Lacombe, McLaughlin, Sundsvik & More

Jan 23rd 2:00 PM
Colorado Avalanche

Prospects News & Rumors: Clarke, Byram & Cozens

Jan 23rd 2:00 PM
New York Islanders

Islanders’ Kieffer Bellows Adapting to New Role

Jan 23rd 1:50 PM
Calgary Flames

Flames’ Monahan Vying to Be Best Center in North Division

Editor’s Picks
2021 NHL Draft Rankings: Baracchini's Top 75 Rankings

2021 NHL Draft Rankings: Baracchini's Top 75 Rankings

Wayne Gretzky Almost Joined the Detroit Red Wings

Wayne Gretzky Almost Joined the Detroit Red Wings

Masthead

Newsletters

RSS Feeds

Privacy Statement

Contact Us

About THW…

Founded in 2009, The Hockey Writers is a premier destination for news and information on everything hockey. Updated daily with news and features from over 130 writers worldwide. Over 2 million monthly readers now come to THW for their hockey fix.

© The Hockey Writers 2020. All rights reserved.
logo
  • HOME
  • Hockey Headlines
  • NHL Rumors
  • North Division
    • Calgary Flames
    • Edmonton Oilers
    • Montreal Canadiens
    • Ottawa Senators
    • Toronto Maple Leafs
    • Vancouver Canucks
    • Winnipeg Jets
  • East Division
    • Boston Bruins
    • Buffalo Sabres
    • New Jersey Devils
    • New York Islanders
    • New York Rangers
    • Philadelphia Flyers
    • Pittsburgh Penguins
    • Washington Capitals
  • Central Division
    • Carolina Hurricanes
    • Chicago Blackhawks
    • Columbus Blue Jackets
    • Dallas Stars
    • Detroit Red Wings
    • Florida Panthers
    • Nashville Predators
    • Tampa Bay Lightning
  • West Division
    • Anaheim Ducks
    • Arizona Coyotes
    • Colorado Avalanche
    • Los Angeles Kings
    • Minnesota Wild
    • San Jose Sharks
    • Seattle Kraken
    • St Louis Blues
    • Vegas Golden Knights
  • World Juniors
  • CHL
    • Ontario Hockey League
    • Quebec Major Junior Hockey League
    • Western Hockey League
  • THW Podcast Network
  • Store
  • FREE Newsletter
  • Search THW
  • More…
    • Join Our Team
    • The THW Archives
    • Prospects
    • The Goalie Page
    • NHL Salary Cap Information