Christmas was a few days ago, as was Boxing Day, but Montreal Canadiens supporters who showed up at Amerant Bank Arena on Saturday (Dec. 28) when the club took on the Florida Panthers got one heck of a gift. Against all odds, the unthinkable occurred. Led by a goalie who had never started a game in the NHL and a much-maligned forward, the Canadiens shut the door on the defending Stanley Cup champions 4-0. Here are the barely believable takeaways.
Jakub Dobeš Shutout!
As per the historic stats sleuths, 23-year-old Jakub Dobeš became the seventh NHL netminder to get a victory against a defending Cup champion in their first start and only the third to do so via a shutout.
What a stupendous turn of events for the Habs. On Friday, it was revealed that the young Czech, who has spent recent time with the Laval Rocket of the American Hockey League (AHL), was called up to join the club on their travels. What did this mean for the usual backup Cayden Primeau? When would Dobeš get the nod? Would he start at all, given that Samuel Montembeault had started 10 consecutive matches?
Flash forward a little over 24 hours later – and a couple of pucks clanking off the post aside – Dobeš put in one of the great Canadiens’ netminding displays in the club’s history. It wasn’t Game 7 of the Stanley Cup Final, but nobody thought Montreal would even win the game, let alone keep the Panthers off the scoresheet with a goalie who never had set his skates to ice in a regular season tilt.
Not to rub it in for Florida fans, but his 34-save shutout looked…easy? That’s maybe egging it on too thick. The thoughts that must have been racing through the rookie keeper’s mind at all times would tell quite a tale. Even so, his relative composure was impressive.
There is a classic philosophy in hockey about goaltending that almost never fails when properly executed: don’t give up rebounds. Well, Dobeš was more than just solid in that respect, frequently corralling the disc to cool off any potential Panthers pressure the latter hoped to generate. He froze the puck 14 times. Keep it simple, don’t get cute, make the referee blow the whistle. Anything else against a side as potent as the Panthers could very well have resulted in a disastrous afternoon.
Lastly, kudos to the Canadiens’ defensive fortitude. Not that 34 shots against is a terrific number, but according to MoneyPuck, Dobes faced only a pair of high-danger shots.
In the post-game presser (his segment begins at 5:15), the young netminder had an undefinable air of bewilderment, humbleness, and quiet pride. He knew that what had transpired was a bit surreal. What an incredible performance.
Kirby Dach Brace!
But wait! There’s more! In fact, there is more irony. The biggest storyline coming out of the match was the superb display by Dobeš, that should be obvious.
The other significant subplot? Kirby Dach earned a brace. Unlucky, run-him-out-town, draft pick bust Dach scored the first two goals for Montreal.
Even better, his first, while thanks in large part to his nose for the goal, had a sprinkling of good fortune. Linemate Patrik Laine carried the disc around Florida’s zone in the second period. He found Kaiden Guhle at the point, who sent it to Alex Newhook in the right faceoff circle. Newhook one-touched it toward the crease where Dach opted to slap it home. He sort of did, but mostly whiffed on his shot. Luckily, it trickled past the Panthers’ Spencer Knight.
“Luck” and “Kirby Dach” are usually oxymorons, but not on this day.
Third subplot? It was Newhook’s first assist of the entire campaign.
Dach was far from done. Nor was Newhook, who fed a wide-open Dach following a neutral zone turnover. The Hamilton native showed off his skills with a nifty backhander to make it 2-0 and start planting the seed of doubt in the Panthers’ minds.
Does Saturday’s game mean that his troubles are over? Only time will tell. He still needs to produce a lot more than he has this season. However, this Florida game must feel like heaven for him. For someone who many people believe is highly skilled but was bitten by bad luck, it is hilariously ironic that his first goal had some good luck, and his second was a lethally executed breakaway.
Montreal Ending 2024 on a High
The Canadiens were supposed to lose to the Panthers but won. They won by a shutout with a goalie who never started an NHL game. Dach scored twice. Newhook notched his first two assists of the campaign.
Oh, Jake Evans netted the club’s third tally in the middle frame on the penalty kill. That’s a goal in four consecutive games for a player we included in a “brilliant” piece from a couple of weeks ago that argued he could be traded.
Related: Canadiens Place Goaltender Cayden Primeau on Waivers
To put this game into perspective, Cole Caufield got his 18th of the season in the third period to make the result academic, and that’s the last thing on anyone’s mind.
Caufield scored? Whatever.
Don’t look now, but Montreal has earned victories in four of its five most recent games. Earning the spoils against struggling operations like the Detroit Red Wings and Buffalo Sabres can only brighten the mood so much. Doing so against a juggernaut like the Panthers is a different matter. Did Florida take Montreal lightly? Only the players on the ice wearing those jerseys can answer that question.
At the time of writing, the Ottawa Senators have amassed 38 points and are the eighth-best team in the Eastern Conference. The Habs now have 33. Now is not the time to get ahead of ourselves, but all those pre-season aspirations of the Canadiens being at least a moderately relevant side in the season’s second half may be right.
One reason why the club can’t get ahead of itself is because the very next challenge is on Sunday (Dec. 29) in Tampa Bay against the Lightning. The latter are having a better campaign than some had foreseen despite the departure of franchise legend Steven Stamkos. Do the Canadiens ride this high and earn a gob-smacking weekend sweep of the state of Florida, or does a legitimately solid side send them back to reality? One game at a time, boys. One game at a time.
