Jakub Dobeš Is Writing the Next Great Canadiens Goaltending Story

The Montreal Canadiens have a long, complicated, occasionally tortured relationship with goaltending. From Jacques Plante to Ken Dryden, from Patrick Roy to Carey Price, the franchise has been defined, and just as often saved by the goaltenders. When the rebuild began in earnest, the question on many fans’ minds was: Who comes next?

The answer may have quietly emerged over two seasons in Laval, where Jakub Dobeš, a fifth-round pick from Ostrava, Czechia, made a habit of struggling, adjusting, then flourishing. His journey from early American Hockey League (AHL) challenges to becoming Montreal’s undisputed number one, an early Conn Smythe candidate, and a possible cornerstone of a dynasty is a story of turbulence, doubt, and revelation.

Learning the Hard Way in Laval

Dobeš signed his entry-level contract with the Canadiens on March 31, 2023, and joined Laval briefly at the end of that season without playing. His real professional education began in 2023–24 and did not start gently. He allowed at least three goals in each of his first six AHL starts, a rough introduction for a fifth-round pick who had yet to prove he belonged.

He proved himself as the season progressed, learning, steadying, and emerging as the Rockets’ top goalie. Dobeš tied for the AHL lead in games played with 51, posting a 24-18-6 record and .906 save percentage (SV%). The numbers weren’t dazzling, but his workload and improvement told the story of a goaltender who thrived under adversity and grew with more responsibility.

He carried that momentum into 2024–25, going 9–3–1 in his first 14 Rocket games before earning his NHL callup on Dec. 27, 2024. This pattern of struggling, adjusting, and flourishing became a recurring theme.

The Night Dobeš Arrived

What happened next was the kind of debut that gets etched into franchise lore. Sent to Florida for a weekend road trip, Dobeš made 34 saves against the defending Stanley Cup champions on Dec. 28 and didn’t allow a goal. He became just the fourth Canadien in history to record a shutout in his NHL debut and was the first goalie to post a shutout in a debut vs. the Stanley Cup champions.

The milestones kept coming. By Jan. 4, he was the first Canadiens goaltender ever to allow just one goal through his first two career starts. By Jan. 19, he had gone 5–0–0 to open his career, just the 13th goaltender in NHL history to achieve it, and only the fourth born outside North America, alongside Antero Niittymäki, Frederik Andersen, and Pyotr Kochetkov. All four wins came on the road, making him just the second goaltender in league history to do so, after Charlie Lindgren.

There was a caveat: Dobeš was still the backup, with Sam Montembeault as the established starter. The rookie was eased in, spending the rest of those playoffs as a spectator until Game 3 of the Washington series, when Montembeault was injured, and Dobeš stepped in. He wasn’t able to be a difference maker, but the experience has clearly served him very well.

The Difficult Second Season: Doubt, Demotion, and Drama

If the 2024–25 campaign was a fairytale introduction, the 2025–26 season was something far messier and, ultimately, far more revealing of Dobeš’s character. He began the new season on fire. Montembeault was struggling badly, posting an .868 SV% and a -10.2 5v5 goals saved above expected (GSAx), despite being among the league leaders in goals saved above expected just 12 months earlier. Dobeš seized the opportunity. He played six of the team’s first 11 games, winning them all, and was named the NHL’s Third Star of the Month for October 2025.

Dobeš’s numbers dipped in November and December. His technique showed cracks: overreacting laterally, putting himself out of position, and letting emotions affect his play. After a blowout loss, Montreal recalled Jacob Fowler from Laval. Dobeš then became the least-utilized goaltender on the roster for a stretch, a humbling turn for someone whose career had started so promisingly.

The Coaching Shake-Up

On Jan. 28, 2026, after 53 games, the Canadiens fired goaltending coach Eric Raymond. Despite a playoff spot, the combined .884 SV% across all goalies ranked 28th in the league. Marco Marciano, noted for his development work in Laval, was promoted on an interim basis. His familiarity with Dobeš and, more recently, Fowler was considered a key asset.

Dobeš gradually reasserted himself, winning the starting job outright by March. He was named the NHL’s First Star of the week for March 23–29, allowing only four goals on 104 shots across three wins. He led all rookie goaltenders in wins by season’s end with 29 in 43 games.

A Playoff Run for the Ages

The first round against the Tampa Bay Lightning was a masterclass in high-wire goaltending. The Canadiens-Lightning series became just the third in NHL playoff history to feature seven straight one-goal games, with the score either tied or within one goal for 98.7 percent of the series, the second-highest percentage ever recorded in a seven-game series. Dobeš navigated every moment of it.

The Game 7 performance in Tampa may be remembered as his first defining statement. Montreal had just nine shots on goal, the fewest ever for a team that won a single playoff game in NHL history. Dobeš stopped 28 of 29, stoned Andrei Vasilevskiy’s squad on the road, and sent the Canadiens to the second round. He became the fifth rookie goaltender in Canadiens history to win a Game 7, joining Plante, Dryden, Roy, and Price.

The second round against the Buffalo Sabres tested him in an entirely different way and produced some of the most dramatic moments of his young career.

Through the first four games, the series swung back and forth, tied at two apiece heading into Game 5 in Buffalo. What followed in the opening period was the kind of start that ends goaltenders’ nights. Dobeš was beaten three times on the first four shots he faced, the last a soft wrister from rookie Konsta Helenius that slid through his legs to give the Sabres a 3-2 lead. He looked to the heavens. Martin St. Louis looked over at his assistant, seemingly asking him with a glance whether or not to pull Dobeš. We later found out that Trevor Letowski was communicating with Marciano, asking him what to do. Marciano kept him in.

That decision proved to be a turning point in the series. Less than a minute into the second period, Dobeš lunged his right pad to stop a Tage Thompson breakaway with Buffalo still leading 3-2. St. Louis later said the save flipped the momentum. Montreal scored three unanswered goals in the second period to complete a 6-3 comeback. Dobeš stopped all 32 shots he faced after that disastrous start. “I told him thank you for leaving me and trying to prove myself,” Dobeš said afterward.

Buffalo roared back to win Game 6 by a score of 8-3 at the Bell Centre, forcing a Game 7 at KeyBank Center in Buffalo on Monday night. And there, in the most pressure-filled setting the sport can offer, Dobeš delivered what may stand as the signature performance of this entire playoff run.

Montreal jumped to an early 2-0 lead in the first period on goals from Phillip Danault and Zachary Bolduc. Then Buffalo took over. They tied it in the third and seemed destined to win if not for Dobeš’s stellar performance. The game then went to overtime and into the history books.

Game 7s and Franchise History

The victory was layered with historical significance. It was the first time in franchise history that the Canadiens had won a Game 7 on the road in overtime. Entering the night, Montreal was 0-2 all-time in road overtime Game 7s, having lost to the Boston Bruins in the 2011 Conference Quarterfinals and to the Detroit Red Wings in the 1954 Stanley Cup Final. That streak is now gone.

And Dobeš wrote himself into the franchise’s goaltending ledger in another way: by winning this Game 7, he became only the second rookie goaltender in Canadiens history to win two Game 7s in a single postseason, joining Dryden, who turned the same trick in 1971 on the way to a Stanley Cup. He also became just the sixth rookie in NHL history to win multiple Game 7s in one playoff year, alongside Dryden, Jordan Binnington (2019), Cam Ward (2006), Felix Potvin (1993), and Mike Vernon (1986).

The Next Chapter

The Canadiens are heading to their first true Eastern Conference Final since 2014. Their 2021 run to the Stanley Cup Final came during the NHL’s temporary COVID-era playoff format. Dobeš, the Czech kid who left home at 16, weathered the doubts of a difficult sophomore season, emerged from a coaching shakeup technically reborn, and then won back-to-back road Game 7s to send his team to the final four stands as the most important player in this run.

No one expected this story a few months ago. He entered the season as a promising prospect still trying to establish himself at the NHL level. What has happened since, particularly in the playoffs, has changed the conversation entirely. Dobeš has given Montreal composure, timely saves, and the type of belief that can change the direction of a series.

It is still early, and the franchise’s history sets an impossibly high standard. But so far, Dobeš looks increasingly like the latest reminder that, somehow, the Canadiens always seem to find another goaltender when the moment demands one most.