The Montreal Canadiens wouldn't be heading to the second round if it hadn't been for Jakub Dobes.
If you had been told at the start of the playoffs that the Montreal Canadiens would beat the Tampa Bay Lightning in seven games without Cole Caufield scoring a single even-strength goal, you more than likely would have choked on your coffee. Fast forward two weeks, though, and that’s exactly what happened to pretty much everyone’s amazement. There were a few reasons why that came to be: the Habs got timely depth scoring, the defense corps played admirably in Noah Dobson’s absence, and, first and foremost, Jakub Dobes.
The Czech netminder had a solid start to the season, while Samuel Montembeault struggled out of the gate. Since the Quebecer was the established first-choice goalie, he was given every opportunity to bounce back, despite Dobes playing some stellar games. Eventually, the youngster started to struggle as well. By Christmas, the organization was forced to call up Jacob Fowler while they sent Montembeault on a conditioning stint with the Laval Rocket in the AHL.
While it seemed to have had its impact at first, Montembeault faltered again. Eventually, the organization had to call Fowler up for good, finishing the season with two rookie goaltenders. From March 6, the two rookies shared the workload, but eventually Dobes made the net his own. That battle for winning the starter job was a great preparation for a winner-takes-all Game 7. Speaking on NHL Game Break after the Habs’ win on Sunday night, he explained how he stayed so calm with stakes so high:
I feel like every game that I played this year was kind of like a Game 7 for me. To be honest, I was playing for my life the whole season, so it’s not new to me to try to prove myself and play with passion, emotion, and a 100% effort, and it worked, so I’m really happy.
Throughout the first-round series, the masked man posted a 2.04 goals-against average and a .923 save percentage while facing 196 shots. Meanwhile, at the other end of the ice, Vezina Trophy finalist Andrei Vasilevskiy, had a 2.18 GAA and a .897 SV while only having to face 156 shots. Dobes had 4.4 goals saved above expected according to Moneypuck, while Vasilevskiy had only 2.9, and in the end, that was the difference maker.
On Sunday, Montreal was outshot by 20 shots and still came out on top. It was the first time a team won a Game 7 after being so heavily outshot since the Canadiens did it against the Washington Capitals back in 2010 with Jaroslav Halak in net. That’s fitting, since Dobes’ performance was quite similar to what Halak did back in 2010.
Throughout the series, Dobes didn’t look like a rookie; he looked like an experienced goaltender who was used to handling the kind of pressure that comes with being the Canadiens’ goaltender. He became just the third rookie Canadiens’ netminder to win a Game 7 on the road after Jacques Plante and Ken Dryden.
When Montembeault struggled, Dobes saw an opportunity and grabbed it with both hands. The fifth-round pick at the 2020 draft doesn’t seem like he has any intention of letting go either, even if Fowler is considered by most to be the goaltender of the future. Dobes is enjoying the present, and if he has anything to say about it, Fowler and the future will have to wait their turn.
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