4 matches, 4 goals and 4 victories for Jakub Dobes: a historic pace

Dose
Crédit: Photo by Sam Hodde/Getty Images

This season, the Canadiens are quite fortunate when it comes to rookies.

Obviously, there is Lane Hutson, whose skills on the ice are well documented. Everyone – or almost everyone – knows that he is already a top defenseman in Montreal.

There is also Emil Heineman. Yes, he will miss a few weeks of activity after being hit by a car in Salt Lake City, but he remains one of the most productive rookies in the Bettman circuit as of this writing.

And now, we can add Jakub Dobes to the list. And this, despite the small sample size.

In four games, the goalie has four wins against strong teams (Panthers, Avalanche, Capitals, and Stars) and has only allowed four goals in total. He is truly dominant.

Martin St-Louis, at this point, can send him against any NHL team.

Such a feat (four games, four wins, four goals) for a goalie making his first steps in the NHL is simply historic. In the last 60 years, only three players have done it.

Only four goals in his first four NHL games in the colors of the Montreal Canadiens, the greatest franchise in hockey, has never been seen for a goalie.

So we can say this: Cayden who?

Dobes’ average of 0.98, his save percentage of .963 (meaning 24 pucks out of 25 are stopped), and his shutout demonstrate that he wasn’t joking when he said he was ready for the NHL.

Yesterday, after the game, Dobes said he really wanted to be recalled and that he worked hard in Laval. Clearly, it paid off.

We must never forget that the development of a young player is never linear (Juraj Slafkovsky is a good example) and that the goalie could/should experience dry spells along the way.

But right now, given how he is playing and because he is helping the Canadiens win, it is hard to imagine a world where this competitor returns to Laval by the end of the season. However, he should take nothing for granted because things can change quickly, but…

In Brief

– Larry Robinson is impressed with Martin St-Louis.

– Hmm…

– Still.

– Worth reading.

– Zach Werenski is loved in Columbus.