Dobes Montreal Faces Game 7 Pressure After Third-Period Pull
dobes montreal heads into Game 7 with Jakub Dobes carrying the weight of the crease after he was pulled in the third period of Saturday’s loss. The Canadiens now go to Buffalo on Monday night needing him again, after a stretch that has swung from sharp to shaky in back-to-back playoff starts.
Jakub Dobes And Buffalo
Dobes was in net for a 3-1 Canadiens lead in the first period on Saturday, then watched five straight goals go in before Jacob Fowler replaced him. That change came after the Canadiens had already lost at home in the series-clinching game, leaving Montreal to face a road Game 7 against the Buffalo Sabres with its goaltending situation under a microscope.
The sequence is what makes this assignment so delicate. In Game 5, Dobes gave up three goals in the first period before stopping the final 25 shots he faced over the last two periods. In Game 6 against the Lightning, he was far more controlled, allowing one goal on 33 shots and taking a shutout into overtime.
Dobes Numbers For Montreal
For most of the playoffs, Dobes has been a driving force behind the Canadiens’ run, and the season line backs that up: 18-2-2 with a 2.39 goals against average and a.916 save percentage, according to Sportsnet. Those numbers sit next to the more uneven recent games, which is why Montreal’s choice in Game 7 is not a routine one.
The schedule has not helped. The Canadiens have been playing every other night for roughly a month, a grind that has already tested the lineup and now lands on a goalie who has already handled a full playoff workload. Montreal also won a road Game 7 against the Lightning in the first round, and the club will try to lean on the same setting again Monday night in Buffalo.
Jacob Fowler’s relief appearance closed the book on Saturday’s collapse, but Dobes is still the goalie Montreal is expected to turn to when the puck drops on Game 7. The pressure is simple now: hold the line on the road, or let another hot start turn into a short night.
