Montreal Canadiens' netminder Jakub Dobes has yet to lose against the Carolina Hurricanes this season, and he fully intends to remain perfect when he steps between the pipes for Game 2 on Saturday night.
Montreal Canadiens’ rookie goaltender Jakub Dobes has a perfect record this season against the Carolina Hurricanes. He beat them three times in the regular season and once again in Game 1 of the Eastern Conference Final.
In those four games, the Czech netminder has a .923 save percentage and a 2.50 goals-against average. Dobes has been a formidable force for the Canadiens in this postseason. He’s currently first in goals saved above expected with 11,9 and has been particularly impressive on the road, where he now has seven wins.
With Thursday night’s win, Dobes caught up to Steve Penney for most wins by a rookie netminder in one postseason with the Canadiens; both have nine wins. There are only two masked men in Habs history with more wins as a rookie goalie in one postseason: Ken Dryden with 12 and Patrick Roy with 15. Both won the Stanley Cup and the Conn Smythe trophy.
Thursday’s win was also the 10th playoff win of Dobes’ career, and he became just the 15th rookie netminder in league history to reach the double-digit mark, and the fifth to do it with the Canadiens after Jacques Plante (14), Dryden (14), Penney (15), and Roy (15).
More importantly, with another standout performance against the Hurricanes, the young goaltender could turn up the pressure on veteran goalie Frederik Anderson. The 36-year-old has struggled against the Canadiens this year, and that, coupled with his losing record in the third round, may be starting to weigh heavily on his mind. At this stage of the playoffs, any psychological advantage you can get over your opponent is a big plus.
In the second round, against the Buffalo Sabres, the Canadiens managed to make Lindy Ruff juggle with his goaltenders, which is not great for a team’s confidence. Ruff went from Alex Lyon to Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen, then back to Lyon, and finally back to UPL. Having some consistency in net is huge for a team’s confidence in the playoffs.
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