Jakub Dobes accomplished rare Canadiens goalie feat despite loss

If there has been one standout for the Montreal Canadiens during this deep playoff run, it has been rookie goalie Jakub Dobes. Once viewed as an uncertainty in net and a potential weakness for the Montreal, he has proven to everyone that he can be their long-term option in net for the foreseeable future. Not only did he help the Canadiens make it to the Eastern Conference Finals after defeating the Tampa Bay Lightning and Buffalo Sabres, but he made history in the process.

Dobes became the first rookie goalie to win multiple Game 7s on the road since Ken Dryden in 1971. Not only that, but he became just the third rookie goalie in NHL history to win seven of their first nine road playoff games, joining Ron Hextall (1987) and Jordan Binnington (2019). That continued on Monday night.

In Game 3, Dobes played a role in the Canadiens tying things up at 2-2 against the Carolina Hurricanes on Lane Hutson's goal after some back-and-forth passing with Cole Caufield. Even with that, Dobes was given the secondary assist.

Dobes can add another historic feat to his playoff resume, as he became the first Canadiens goalie to assist on a power play goal since Patrick Roy did so back in 1990 during Game 6 of the Adams Division semifinals against the Sabres. Being included in the same group as Roy is never a bad thing when it comes to goaltending.

But there is one negative, and it's that the Dobes lost back-to-back playoff games for the first time in this run.

Dobes added another milestone to remarkable rookie playoff run

If there was one thing that Dobes could do in these playoffs, it's rebound spectacularly after losses. Before the Eastern Conference Finals, Dobes was a perfect 6-0 after losses, where he recorded a 1.79 goals allowed average and a .942 save percentage. That is exactly what any team would want from their goalie — put the previous loss behind them and play a motivated, lights out game to win.

For Dobes, he made 36 saves on 39 shots faced from a ruthless Carolina offense. Even though the game did reach overtime, Dobes didn't get much help from Montreal's offense, who only mustered 13 shots on goal. For any goalie, whether a star, starter, or backup, they can only stop so many shots to keep a team in the game. So for Montreal to only put up 13 shots on net on Monday night, and just 12 in Game 2, isn't making Dobes' job any easier.

Dobes has shown that he can more than do his part to keep Montreal in games these playoffs. However, he will need some additional help on offense. Even accomplishing things that haven't been seen in years isn't enough. Dobes needs some offense like he saw in Game 1 of the Eastern Conference Finals.

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