The Dallas Stars were pouring it on. They were dominating the Montreal Canadiens in the second period of Thursday’s game, outshooting, out-chancing, outworking them and looking every bit like the team that had just won nine of its last 11 games and four of its last five on a tough road trip out east. And it was right at the peak of this storm when Jamie Benn started the play that would’ve given them the lead they had earned.
He took the puck away from Joel Armia just inside his own blue line, whipped a breakaway pass up the ice to Logan Stankoven and watched in disbelief as Canadiens goaltender Jakub Dobes calmly moved to the top of his crease before dropping into the butterfly and casually deflecting Stankoven’s wrist shot out of harm’s way.
It was a momentum-turning save, made with the confidence a five-year veteran in this league typically exudes.
But Dobes isn’t even a five-game veteran in this league.
It’s what makes what he’s doing right now so special.
The 23-year-old came into Thursday’s game after having beaten the Florida Panthers, Colorado Avalanche and Washington Capitals through his first three NHL starts, and he came out of it as the main reason the Canadiens won 3-1 to keep pace in the insanely tight playoff race developing in the Eastern Conference.
That save on Stankoven was one of 32 Dobes made against the Stars, and it should be seen as the exclamation mark on the statement he’s made since his promotion to the Canadiens.
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“I wanted to get called. When I was in Laval, I wanted to be here,” he told reporters at American Airlines Center after Thursday’s game. “The one thing is I want to prove I belong here, and the second thing is I kinda want to show everyone they made the right choice…”
The Canadiens must be wondering what might have been had they made it sooner.
They gave Cayden Primeau a longer leash than he earned before finally waiving him on Dec. 26. They hoped he’d redeem some of the confidence he showed in establishing himself as a dependable backup to Samuel Montembeault over the back half of last season, but it got to a point where they couldn’t even trust him to spot Montembeault some much-needed rest before the holidays. Had they intervened in early December, after Primeau faltered in a 6-3 loss to the Boston Bruins, they might be in a playoff spot right now rather than one point out of one.
But hey, perhaps building up Dobes’s hunger a bit longer is exactly what’s helped the impressive goaltender start his career in such remarkable fashion.
It’s early, and the sample size is very small.
But it’s convincing enough already to suggest Dobes is an NHL goaltender, and watching how he’s built up that case inspires hope he can be a really good one.
“Seems like everything that hits him just sticks to him,” said Canadiens captain Nick Suzuki. “It’s really fun to watch.”
It had to have been particularly reassuring on this night.
Against the Panthers, the Canadiens helped Dobes settle his first-game jitters by supressing all but five high-danger shot attempts and they eased him into a 4-0 shutout.
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The six-foot-four goaltender, who was drafted 136th overall in 2020, steadied them at the start of the game in Denver one week later and stopped both shots he faced in the shootout that night. But the Canadiens handily outplayed the Avalanche in between and supported his last efforts by scoring on both of their shootout attempts.
And they held the Capitals to just 17 shots on net in Dobes’s third start.
Thursday’s game was different.
The Stars outshot the Canadiens 26-13 from the second period onward. They forced Juraj Slafkovsky, Christian Dvorak and Kaiden Guhle to make some big blocks after Alex Newhook gave them the lead, but they really forced Dobes to come up with his best.
The kid did — not only against Stankoven, but also against fellow Czech Matej Blumel, whom he stymied on a third-period, two-on-one rush.
Jason Robertson, who was the only player to beat Dobes on the night, told Stars reporters, “It was one of those games where the goalie steals points, steals goals,” and there was no denying it.
Everyone could see Dobes made the difference.
“He’s playing with a lot of confidence right now,” said Canadiens coach Martin St. Louis.
The numbers support the assertion, with Dobes sporting an infinitesimal 0.98 goals-against average and a sterling .963 save percentage.
He’s done it all on the road, but his first start at the Bell Centre awaits him this weekend.
First, Montembeault will likely go for his eighth win in his last 11 starts when the Toronto Maple Leafs visit Saturday. And then it’s assumed Dobes will play the New York Rangers on Sunday.
The fans will go berserk for him, but he’ll probably be as calm as he was on that Stankoven breakaway.
That’s the trademark of a good NHL goaltender, and Dobes is looking like he’s going to be one for a long time.
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