To nobody's surprise, the Montreal Canadiens are a better hockey team. After losing 5-2 to the Toronto Maple Leafs on opening night, the Habs won nine of their next 11 games, including four in overtime. It looked like nothing was going to get in their way of winning the Atlantic Division outright in the season's early stages,
Then the wheels started falling off in early November, and the Canadiens are just 7-7-3 since Nov. 1. Injuries to key players like Kaiden Guhle, Patrik Laine, and Alex Newhook going down long-term, and Kirby Dach has also been banged up.
That will set any team back, but it doesn't excuse the Canadiens for giving up 66 goals in that 17-game stretch, or 3.88 per game. A collective effort of bad goaltending must shoulder the blame here, especially Jakub Dobes' play after what was a hot start.
Jakub Dobes continues to have a tough time finding consistency
Jakub Dobes burst out of the gate with a 6-0-0 record, making 159 saves and giving up 12 goals. His 0.930 save percentage made him look like a future franchise goaltender, and with three of those overtime wins, Dobes looked like a goaltender ready to perform well in the clutch.
He hasn't been the same goaltender since the Canadiens lost 4-3 to the New Jersey Devils on Nov. 6. Since then, Dobes is 4-4-1, with a 0.865 save percentage, and 31 goals allowed on 230 shots. There have been times when he has bounced back and looked like his former self, like giving up two goals in a shootout win over the Winnipeg Jets on Dec. 3, before following that up by allowing just one goal against the Toronto Maple Leafs on Dec. 6, which was another shootout win.
Dobes can put up stellar performances, but both of those wins listed above occurred after he allowed seven goals on 36 shots to the Colorado Avalanche on Nov. 29. After those two stellar outings, Dobes allowed four goals on just 18 shots in a loss to the lowly St. Louis Blues.
Nobody behind Jakub Dobes will save the Montreal Canadiens
Jakub Dobes, at best, has been inconsistent, with a 0.890 save percentage and a 3.03 GAA in 16 games. Sam Montembeault has been worse. Through 14 games, Montembeault is 5-6-1, with a GAA of 3.61, a 0.861 save percentage, and a 0.308 quality starts percentage.
Before their loss to the St. Louis Blues, the Canadiens also called up Kaapo Kahkonen, a journeyman who recently spent time with the San Jose Sharks and New Jersey Devils. Kahkonen has never solidified himself as a legitimate NHL goaltender and is best suited for organizational depth.
This makes for a bleak situation in Quebec, and unless general manager Kent Hughes is working the phones, there doesn't seem to be an answer to the Habs' goaltending situation. Dobes hasn't played like a number-one goaltender, and Montembeault has been given plenty of chances to prove he's the guy, so it's time to look elsewhere if the Canadiens are going to be serious contenders for the Atlantic Division.
The Canadiens are in third place in the Atlantic, but with 99 goals allowed this season, they are tied with the Columbus Blue Jackets for the second-worst in the Eastern Conference. Only the Detroit Red Wings, 102 goals allowed, have been worse. The writing is on the wall for Kent Hughes: get a viable goaltender, or struggle to hang onto that third-place spot in the Atlantic Division.