Montreal Canadiens goaltender Jakub Dobes had a great start to the season and accomplished an impressive feat in the process.
On Tuesday night, Jakub Dobes played his 60th NHL game with the Montreal Canadiens. That 3-2 win over the Toronto Maple Leafs was his 37th career win. In the Habs’ storied past, that’s the fourth-highest win total after 60 games with the Sainte-Flanelle.
Bill Durnan had the highest total with 46 wins; the late great Ken Dryden ranks second with 41 wins, followed by the Habs all-time leader in shutouts, George Hainsworth, with 39 wins in his first 60 games with the Bleu, Blanc, Rouge. Those are the only three netminders who recorded more wins than Dobes through 60 games. Rick Wamsley had 37 as well; Michel Larocque and Carey Price had 36, while the legendary Jacques Plante had 35, and Georges Vezina, Charlie Hodge, and Richard Sevigny tied with 34 wins.
That’s yet another impressive accomplishment by the 25-year-old Czech netminder, and while it’s still early in his career, there’s no denying just how useful he was to the Habs in the last playoffs. Signing a three-year contract extension at the earliest opportunity shows he's impressed the Habs’ brass. The extension, which will kick in at the start of next season, carries a $5.357,575 cap hit. Kent Hughes and co. clearly didn’t think the young netminder was a flash in the pan, and early results this season seem to indicate he was right.
Dobes fully deserved to start the season as the Canadiens’ first-choice goaltender, and his performance against the Leafs inspired his teammates. He stopped 26 of the 28 shots he faced, finishing the game with a 2.03 goals-against average and a .929 save percentage. The youngster oozes confidence, and it was evident in his post-game comments:
I feel pretty good, but I saw that a lot of people thought, they have a lot of opinions about me, so I just wanted to prove that I’m ready. I will keep going, keep working hard, and I'm excited for Pittsburgh.
Last year, when Martin St-Louis was asked about Dobes’ performance during the regular season, he tended to downplay his impact, almost as if he didn’t want to negatively impact Samuel Montembeault’s confidence. Now that Dobes is firmly seated in the number one’s chair, the coach doesn’t appear worried about that anymore:
I’d say that wasn’t our best game, and I said it this morning: it’s not about being perfect; you can win games even if you’re not perfect. Dobes gave us a damn good game; we killed penalties, and we got momentum during the game. […] He was excellent; he made some very big saves for us. Especially early on, I felt like we weren’t playing fast enough; he bought us time to get going, and we started playing faster, forechecking more, and owning pucks in the O-zone. We got some good stuff, but I would say the first seven or eight minutes, the ice was tilted, and I think we tilted it back, and he was good.
Last season, when the Canadiens changed goalie coach, Dobes said he felt like he now had someone in his corner. This year, he’s starting the season with everyone in his corner, and he has certainly earned it.
Follow Karine on X @KarineHains Bluesky @karinehains.bsky.social and Threads @karinehains.
Bookmark The Hockey News Canadiens' page for all the news and happenings around the Canadiens.
Join the discussion by signing up to the Canadiens' roundtable on The Hockey News.
