The game had long since ended, and it hadn’t gone well for Jakub Dobes.
The Canadiens goaltender allowed six Buffalo goals on 33 shots last Saturday, and was removed midway through the third period of an 8-3 defeat — with Montreal having squandered an opportunity to eliminate the Sabres on home ice.
Dobes could have sulked. He could have brooded. He could have questioned himself. Instead, the 24-year-old rookie did what every young player seems to do in today’s NHL — he played video games with his teammates, probably to get his mind as far removed from what had transpired.
“I think me, getting pulled at home, was kind of a wake-up call. I took it personal,” Dobes said Monday night after stopping 37 Buffalo shots in the Canadiens’ dramatic 3-2 overtime victory in Game 7 of the series at KeyBank Center.
Canadiens goalie Jakub Dobes makes a save during Game 6 against the Lightning. John Mahoney / Montreal Gazette
And if Dobes’s reaction Saturday night makes little sense to most people, they’ve yet to understand the unpredictable and emotional player. He doesn’t talk in clichés and speaks from the heart. The Canadiens’ media-relations department, concerned over what Dobes might say, cut him off from journalists at one point late in the season before eventually deciding to acquiesce to the numerous requests.
The Canadiens now move on to the Eastern Conference final against Carolina; the best-of-seven series beginning Thursday night at Lenovo Center (8 p.m., CBC, SN, TVA Sports, TSN Radio-690, 98.5 FM).
Montreal is once again the underdog, despite winning all three regular-season games against the Hurricanes. But the post-season play of Dobes — should it continue — provides the Canadiens with hope.
“It’s great. It gives us so much energy, so much confidence,” defenceman Mike Matheson said. “He looks like a guy that has played 10 years in the league. He seems to be unflappable. He’s huge for our team.”
Even Alex Newhook, who scored the overtime goal against Buffalo — the second straight series he produced the winning tally in the deciding game — couldn’t overlook Dobes’s contribution to the Canadiens’ success.
“Dobes is playing really well,” said Newhook, who leads the Canadiens with seven post-season goals in 14 games. “We’re confident in him and we’re confident in everyone in the room. We know what we’re capable of. We’re excited to keep it rolling.”
Dobes has started every playoff game, and quashed any speculation that he’s growing mentally and physically fatigued, stating Monday night he could play 40 more contests. And the Canadiens will continue riding the 6-foot-4, 215-pounder as far as he takes them.
There have been high and low moments for the native of Ostrava, Czech Republic, who somehow made it to the fifth round of the 2020 draft before the Canadiens selected him 136th overall.
Dobes has an 8-6 record, 2.52 goals-against average and .910 save percentage. But he also has a 6-0 record following a loss, combined with a 1.77 GAA and .942 save percentage. Following a win, however, Dobes paradoxically is 1-6 with a 3.11 average and .882 save percentage.
He allowed a fluky Tage Thompson goal that ricocheted off the stanchion in Game 4 during a 3-2 loss. Dobes then allowed three goals on the first four shots he faced in Game 5 — only to stop the next 32 in the Canadiens’ 6-3 win.
Head coach Martin St. Louis contemplated pulling Dobes that night — only to be dissuaded by goaltending coach Marco Marciano.
“The Tampa series made us a way better team,” Dobes said. “We know what the feeling’s like. We keep getting experience. Every game, every period makes us a better team for the future. We’re still a really young group. We’re learning.”
And now Dobes has the experience of overtime in Game 7 to draw from, which can only make him better moving forward.
“I just tried to tell myself that you’ve got to try and do everything,” he explained. “Everything you have. Everything that’s left in the tank. Go all out. You have to keep telling yourself the puck won’t go in … they’re not going to score. Trick your brain. Be there for the guys.
“I love the team and would do anything however long it takes to get the win.”
Fans in Buffalo had the novel idea of chanting Dobes’s name during games — much like Bell Centre spectators derided Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen and Alex Lyon. Dobes said he loved the attention and it fuelled his demeanour.
“The fans like to chant my name — so I like that, too,” he said. “Actually that was giving me fire. I like it when we’re the villain.”
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