The Montreal Canadiens had goaltending issues this season, but had it not been for Jakub Dobes, they wouldn't be heading to the playoffs right now.
While Jacub Dobes started the season occupying the Montreal Canadiens’ backup chair, slowly but surely, he was able to take that chair, and he didn’t steal it; he earned it. With four games to go in the regular season, the rookie netminder has already played 40 games and earned 28 of the Habs’ 46 wins. As things stand, he has a 28-8-4 record with a 2.73 goals-against average and a .904 save percentage.
However, since the Habs made Marco Marciano their goaltending coach, the youngster has a 12-3-1 record in 16 games with a 2.44 GAA and a .916 SV. There’s no denying that his arrival has had a big impact on Dobes, but so has the fact that the Canadiens finally decided to give him the net and put their trust in him.
On Tuesday, NHL Network analyst Mike Kelly shared a stat showing just how much of a difference Dobes has made for the Canadiens’ season. This year, the Canadiens are second in goals saved above average, with 17, second only to the New York Islanders, who have 22. Of the Habs’ 17 GSAE, 11 belong to Dobes, four to Jacob Fowler, and only two to Samuel Montembeault.
Furthermore, Dobes is clutch when it’s crunch time. Since January 12, he has a .942 SV in the third frame and in overtime, and a .887 SV on shots from the lower slot; in both departments, he is third in the NHL.
While the netminder may not get many votes in the Calder Trophy polls this season thanks to Matthew Scaefer’s dominance and a tight rookie scoring race between teammate Ivan Demidov, Beckett Sennecke and Schaefer himself, he stands out above all other rookie netminders. He has seven more wins than Yaroslav Askarov, is second amongst rookie goalies who have played at least 30 games in GAA and in SV amongst the same group.
It’s also worth mentioning that last season, Calgary Flames netminder Dustin Wolf, who finished second in the Calder Trophy voting, only had 29 wins, one more than what Dobes has so far, and chances are, he will either tie him or even surpass him. Furthermore, the Czech netminder has led his team to the playoffs, something Wolf failed to do in his rookie season or his sophomore one, for that matter.
More importantly, though, Dobes brings confidence and swagger to the net. When his teammates look at him behind the post, they see a netminder who believes in himself and who will give them an opportunity to win regardless of who the opponent is, and that’s priceless.
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