‘He’s a fighter’: Habs goalie Jakub Dobes stands tall after rocky start to Game 5

BUFFALO — Martin St. Louis was faced with a decision midway through the first period.

The Montreal Canadiens head coach had just watched his frustrated netminder allow three goals on the first four shots.

St. Louis turned to assistant Trevor Letowski, who was already on the headset with interim goalie coach Marco Marciano seated high above the KeyBank Center ice in a private suite.

The conversation was a quick one.

“Keep him in,” St. Louis said of the message from up top. “OK, let’s move on. I feel like you have to empower the people that are actually certified for the position.

“That’s what I did.”

And now the Canadiens sit one victory from the NHL’s Eastern Conference final.

Dobes made 33 saves — including 32 straight following a forgettable first period — to help Montreal top the Buffalo Sabres 6-3 and take a 3-2 lead in the teams’ second-round playoff series.

“A couple tough bounces lately,” said Dobes, undone by a wild goal off a stanchion in a 3-2 home loss in Game 4. “But I just feel like the one lesson I learned from (Thursday is) just got to have a better body language for the boys — don’t let them know that I’m not feeling maybe my best.

“We talked a little bit during intermission. We met up in the locker room and we were really excited.”

Montreal, which can book a matchup against the Carolina Hurricanes with a victory at what will be a rocking Bell Centre on Saturday night, was on the backfoot early in Game 5 as the Sabres pressed.

Dobes stopped the first shot he faced before things went completely off the rails.

Jack Quinn’s effort hit Jason Zucker in front and caromed in off Montreal defenceman Mike Matheson early in the first period.

The Canadiens tied the game 4 1/2 minutes later, but Josh Doan blasted a shot along the ice on a one-timer that fooled Dobes just 1:14 later.

Montreal again evened things nine seconds after that, only to watch Konsta Helenius fire another puck that fooled the second-year Canadiens backstop just after the 10-minute mark.

That brief call upstairs came next. Dobes would continue — and shut the door from there.

“The goalie position is probably the one position that I can’t help much,” St. Louis said. “I try to stay out of it and not be emotionally driven, and being upset that we’re down. The first period was chaotic on both sides.”

Dobes thanked St. Louis for allowing him to stay in the crease.

“That’s a big part, to have (the) trust of your coach and I will never disrespect it,” said the fiery 24-year-old, who has mixed it up with the Sabres during play and post-whistle throughout the series. “I appreciate it and the only thing I was trying to do (was) just give some momentum back to the team and try to keep it tight … it worked out.”

Dobes made a huge breakaway stop on Tage Thompson less than four minutes into the second to keep the deficit at one — a moment St. Louis felt turned the tide.

“It’s just Marty trusting him,” Canadiens forward Juraj Slafkovsky, who had three assists, said of the coach sticking with his netminder. “It’s huge for confidence of him. And we all trust him as well.

“I’m not the one making the decision,” he added with a laugh. “But I like it the way it is.”

That set the stage for Canadiens forwards Josh Anderson, Jake Evans and Nick Suzuki — on a power play — to pump three goals past Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen in quick succession for a 5-3 lead through two periods.

“He continues to show a lot of maturity and battle in his game for such a young player, young goalie,” Matheson said of Dobes. “It’s really impressive. It’s mental strength to be able to do that. It gives us a lot of confidence when he’s battling.”

Suzuki, who had a quiet word with his netminder after Buffalo’s third goal, said the group’s belief never wavered.

“He’s super confident in himself,” the Canadiens captain said after chipping in two assists for a three-point night of his own. “He puts the work in off the ice to have his mental training where it needs to be. He’s a fighter, he wants to be in the battle with the guys.

“He’s got the perfect kind of attitude in a goalie.”

One sitting 60 minutes from the third round.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published May 14, 2026.

Joshua Clipperton, The Canadian Press