Jakub Dobes should be sitting here on Sunday morning with a 6-0-0 record. However, a lack of effort from his Montreal Canadiens teammates caused him to suffer a 4-3 overtime loss to drop to a 5-0-1 record. The Canadiens fell behind early with a poor performance in the first period, as they had just six shots.
Montreal finally decided to show up in the second half of the second period after Nick Suzuki made it a 2-1 game. They gave one back to former Hab Tomas Tatar, but Cole Caufield narrowed the deficit to one heading into the third period. Alexandre Carrier tied the game in the third period, and the team held on to send the game to overtime before Jack Hughes scored the winner.
The Devils outshot the Canadiens 13-7 in the third period, and Dobes made a number of massive saves to get the extra point and send the game to overtime. It was far from Dobes' fault, as his 40-save performance in the loss was one of the better goaltending performances of the season for the Canadiens.
“I wasn’t really happy with my 1st period. I didn’t like (my) compete level on the first (goal). On the second one, I didn’t really like (my) body language…After the 1st period, I told myself I need to get going. I’m proud that we battled back & I had a pretty good 2nd & 3rd… pic.twitter.com/9puKJzeEvZ
— /r/Habs (@HabsOnReddit) January 26, 2025
It takes a special player and mindset to stand in front of the RDS cameras and take the blame for this loss if you are Dobes. Most players would go through the cliches and take the blame, but sometimes it doesn't seem as genuine as Dobes' body language in this clip. He is wearing the loss and it's a good sign for the future.
"“I wasn’t really happy with my 1st period. I didn’t like (my) compete level on the first (goal). On the second one, I didn’t really like (my) body language…After the 1st period, I told myself I need to get going. I’m proud that we battled back & I had a pretty good 2nd & 3rd (period).”"Jakub Dobes
Goaltenders must have a different wiring in their brain to go out every game and put forth a dominant effort. It's something the game's best goalies have, and it reminds me of the mindset of a young Carey Price. Dobes is stlll just six games into his career, but all signs are pointing in the right direction, even in a loss.
"“It wasn’t a perfect game. For the next one, I need to play a full 60 mins to deserve to win.” "Jakub Dobes
Pick your head up Dobes, if it wasn't for you, the Canadiens would be leaving this weekend with zero points instead of one. In this playoff race, every last point is going to count.