It is not crazy to say that the biggest reason why the Montreal Canadiens were able to take down the Tampa Bay Lightning in seven games was the play of rookie goalie Jakub Dobes. At times in the regular season, it felt like the Canadiens could win despite their goaltending, with Montreal having the seventh-most goals for in the NHL. However, in round one, with the Canadiens' stars struggling to produce on the offensive end, it was Dobes who helped carry the team to victory, doing something fans have not seen since Carey Price.
Joining Canadiens royalty
With Dobes getting the win in Game 7 against the Lightning, he became just the fifth Canadiens rookie goalie to do so, joining some elite company. The other four goalies, if you are wondering, are just the Mount Rushmore of Canadiens netminders. The list includes Jacque Plante, Ken Dryden, Patrick Roy, Carey Price, and the newest member, Dobes. Each one of those goalies has left a long-standing legacy in Montreal, and since Price’s unfortunate injury situation, which forced him to call it quits on his career earlier than he or fans would have liked, the franchise has been looking for its next star in goal, and they might have found him in Dobes.
TAKE A BOW, JAKUB DOBES!!! 🤩 #StanleyCup #Game7 pic.twitter.com/1EpXvPCJPu
— NHL (@NHL) May 4, 2026
Not only is Dobes the first rookie Canadiens goalie to win a Game 7 since Price, but he did so with better numbers than the Habs franchise legend. In 2008, Price helped the Canadiens take down the Boston Bruins in seven games, posting a .925 save percentage and a 2.14 goals against average with two shutouts. While Dobes did not record a shutout in the series against the Lightning, he was still able to post a .923 save percentage and a 2.03 goals against average. While those numbers are not substantially better, with only a single goal separating the Canadiens and the Lightning in the series, Dobes needed to be perfect for Montreal to win, and in Game 7, he pretty much was.
Special Game 7 performance by Dobes
Dobes seemed unfazed at the challenge of defeating the playoff-seasoned Lightning in Game 7, and with the Canadiens having only nine shots on goal in the game, the team needed him to be locked in from the very start, and he was. Stopping 28 out of the 29 shots faced in the game, single-handedly winning the game for the Canadiens, who walked out of the building with a tightly contested 2-1 win.
Post-game, Dobes was asked what his mindset was heading into his first career Game 7, and for a player who has been criticized at times for wearing his heart on his sleeve, he gave a very down-to-earth response. “People sometimes say that I get too emotional. But every game I play is like a Game 7, like it is my last one. That was my mentality going into this one, that I will prove people wrong,” said Dobes to Sportnet reporter Kyle Bukauskas.
Dobes' mental toughness likely will never be in question ever again, and if anything, the way he conducted himself after the game, already shifting his mindset to the next task at hand, the Buffalo Sabres, not only shows how much he has developed over the season, but also shows that he is ready to prove that the future of the Canadiens crease belongs to him. Now he will have to show he can do it all over again against the Sabres.
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