It was the day after the night before, and all everyone on the Canadiens wanted to talk about was rookie goaltender Jakub Dobes — with good reason.
“He played great last night and gave us a chance early in the game,” forward Alex Newhook said Wednesday after an optional practice and team photo at the Bell Centre. “Obviously, we didn’t have our best in the first (period) there. For him to keep us in the game, sometimes you need your goalies to do that, especially at this time of the year.
“He had a great game,” Newhook continued. “He showed up for us when we needed him. A lot of credit to him.”
The Canadiens’ 5-2 victory Tuesday night against Carolina — the team with the best record in the Eastern Conference heading into Wednesday night’s games — only told a small portion of the story.
Dobes, arguably in his best performance of the season, stopped 41 shots for a .953 save percentage. After allowing two early goals in a shade over seven minutes while being bombarded with 10 shots, Dobes stopped the next 33. He turned aside Taylor Hall on a first-period breakaway along with another from Logan Stankoven in the third that would have made the score 4-3.
Dobes stopped six additional shots before Jake Evans scored an empty-net goal with a minute left, cementing Montreal’s second consecutive win and third in four games — solidifying the team’s hold on third place in the Atlantic Division.
The Canadiens conclude a three-game homestand Thursday against Columbus (7 p.m., TSN2, RDS, TSN Radio-690, 98.5 FM) and it would be stunning if head coach Martin St. Louis didn’t continue riding the hot Dobes, who clearly has become Montreal’s first-string netminder. In 35 games this season — 34 starts — the 24-year-old Czech has a 23-8-4 record and a 2.88 goals-against average. While his save percentage is a pedestrian .896, Dobes wins games. And that’s all that matters, even if his style is slightly unorthodox.
Under former goalie coach Eric Raymond, Dobes had a 14-5-3 record, a 3.12 GAA and an .884 save percentage. Since Marco Marciano replaced Raymond on Jan. 28, Dobes’s statistics have dramatically improved. He has a 7-3-1 record, a 2.72 GAA and a .907 save percentage.
Canadiens goaltending coach Marco Marciano, left, with Jakub Dobes during practice on Feb. 17, 2026. Pierre Obendrauf /Montreal Gazette
Dobes wasn’t made available after Tuesday’s game and won’t be speaking to the media for the foreseeable future, the Canadiens announced on Wednesday.
“He was great,” veteran defenceman Mike Matheson said on Wednesday. “He played really well. He made a lot of really big saves in key important times in the game. I think the goalies (Dobes and Jacob Fowler) are playing great. They have a lot of confidence. And we have a lot of confidence in them. Experience is such a fickle thing.”
Assuming the Canadiens — who have 12 games left and begin a five-game road trip Saturday at Nashville — make the playoffs for a second consecutive season, it appears management is prepared to lean on Dobes and Fowler, both rookies. Veteran Samuel Montembeault hasn’t played since March 6 and has been a healthy scratch for the last seven games.
Fowler has two wins and a loss since being recalled from AHL Laval and will probably play in one of the back-to-back games this weekend. The Canadiens are in Carolina on Sunday.
While unusual, rookie goalies have been known to catch lightning in a bottle.
Matt Murray made NHL history, winning successive Stanley Cup championships his first two seasons with Pittsburgh in 2016 and ’17. He replaced an injured Marc-André Fleury in 2016.
“We’re confident in both (Dobes and Fowler),” Newhook said. “I think they’ve proven they can be good goalies in this league and step up when needed. You saw it (Tuesday) night and with Fowler in the few games he has been in. I think, regardless of who it is, it’s behind us. We’re confident in both those guys.”
The Canadiens could have unravelled against Carolina, a conference powerhouse, after their early deficit. Instead, Montreal recorded its 24th comeback victory this season.
“We’ve come back in a lot of games this year,” Newhook said. “When we play our brand and roll our lines over and play with pace, I think we’re a hard team to defend and play against. Regardless of being down a couple, there was a lot of game left. It showed how we can play and take the game over a little bit at times.”
The Blue Jackets moved into second place in the Metropolitan Division on Tuesday for the first time this season, defeating Philadelphia 3-2. Columbus hasn’t ranked among the top two teams in its division since Oct. 15, 2021.
