I still can't help but associate Montreal goalie Jakub Dobes with a game I went to in New Jersey in November. It was an OT win for the Devils, and the first loss of the season for a 24-year-old netminder who'd only made 15 starts for the Habs the previous year. He took it hard. Talking to media in the postgame, he seemed devastated in a way that better fit a Game 7 defeat, putting all the blame on himself for a loss he took very personally.
"I'm just disappointed in myself. That's pretty much it," he said.
As Dobes fought through an imperfect season where he won, then lost, then regained the starting job, I kept thinking about that interview and what I thought it said about his personality. I admired the kid for holding himself to such a high standard, but I also knew that, to succeed in the NHL, a goalie needs a more sustainable way to respond to setbacks. (In the next game he played, Dallas beat the Habs 7-0.) When playoff time came, Dobes was the X-factor to an even greater degree than your typical masked man. On his best nights, including Game 7 against Tampa, he made the Canadiens near-unbeatable. On his worst nights, like his stinkbomb in a potential clincher in Game 6, he makes games unwinnable. Would he bounce back? Or would early-season, depressive Dobes rear his unconstructive head?
He was perfect through the game's first half as his team took a 2-0 lead, but then some cracks started to show. Jordan Greenway scored while Dobes was neutralized by a screen of bodies. Then in the third, veteran Sabre Jason Zucker smashed into Dobes on an unpenalized play that looked like it was meant to rattle him; just a few moments later, Owen Power and Rasmus Dahlin combined for the equalizer. A few minutes after that, the Sabres got the puck through Dobes on a non-goal where Montreal was saved by a timely whistle. It felt like the Canadiens were spiraling toward collapse.
But they didn't. It was Buffalo who got punched in the gut and then thrown out the door. In an overtime that was more tense and nervy than high-octane chaos, Dobes made a stop off a Sabres turnover in the first 20 seconds, and several minutes later denied Tage Thompson as the 40-goal scorer tried to convert a two-on-one. That bought Montreal enough time to find another weakness in Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen, who let Alex Newhook's winner fly past his glove. In this postgame interview, Dobes seemed like a completely different person. Asked about his stamina after two grueling series, he responded with easy confidence: "Me? I can play 40 more."
Ever since Carolina swept Philly, I've been anticipating how weird the Eastern Conference Final is going to be. While the Hurricanes are as consistent as they come, the inexperienced Habs and Sabres squads spent the second round wildly fluctuating between "model of a champion" and "uncontainable mess." The roller coaster of this series ran on tracks built by the goalies—all sorts of stomach-churning drops and inversions that left everyone completely disoriented. I'd be into more of the same in this third round, Montreal's dominant periods alternating with disasters. This matchup almost requires Dobes to win a couple games where his team is severely outshot, if they have any hope of advancing. But it seems plausible he's getting comfortable carrying the weight of Montreal's season on his shoulders—or at least comfortable enough to give the Canes their first real challenge.
