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Canadiens: Dobes Shines In Big Win

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After a disappointing loss against the Ottawa Senators on Tuesday night, Martin St-Louis decided to go back to the drawing board for the second game of the back-to-back, and it was with different lines that his Montreal Canadiens took on the Winnipeg Jets. Before puck drop, the organization took the time to honour former blueliner Andrei Markov, a man who bled red, white and blue, but we’ll discuss this in a separate article.

Unimpressed by his team’s defensive play against Ottawa, the coach felt it was time to make some adjustments to maximize his chances of having effective five-man units on the ice at all times. Juraj Slafkovsky was back with Cole Caufield and Nick Suzuki, while Zachary Bolduc went from the top line to the fourth one. As for Brendan Gallagher, he was back with Jake Evans and Josh Anderson, while Alexandre Texier got a first top-six look. As for Florian Xhekaj, he made way for Brandon Davidson, who completed a line with Joe Velenon and the aforementioned Bolduc.

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Confidence Starts In The Net

Jakub Dobes was back in the net on Wednesday night, and the way he handles himself between the pipes is quite different from that of Samuel Montembeault. He’s clearly more confident and moving much better. Even if it’s not always elegant, his desperation dive to one side after colliding with Jonathan Toews was spectacular. While he arrived before the shot, he still managed to recover and freeze the puck when it fell in the crease.

His glove hand is sharp, and he doesn’t have the same issue as the Becancour native when it comes to long-range shots. His puck tracking was also excellent, and he doesn’t end up on the wrong side of wraparounds.

In the first frame, he stopped nine of the 10 shots he faced, and the one that went in came from yet another defensive breakdown. Mark Scheifele walked right into the slot with nobody even attempting to cover him. He had all the time in the world to pick his spot to beat the Czech goalie.

Throughout the game, he made multiple saves, including some key ones late in the third and in overtime, before not allowing a single goal in the shootout. He did everything he could tonight, and he’s a massive part of the reason why the Canadiens skated away with the two points. It's also worth mentioning that he communicates with his player very well, whenever a defenseman was pinching and no one was going back to cover for him, you could hear Dobes smacking the ice with his stick until the situation was corrected.

A Winning Second Frame

For the first time in what felt like forever, the Canadiens actually finished the second frame with a positive differential, scoring two goals and only allowing one. That’s not to say it was a perfect frame, though. The young Habs are still prone to panic when things go awry, for instance, when they had to defend with one less stick, the Jets knew precisely how to take advantage, passing the puck around until they were dizzy to take a temporary 2-1 lead.

But, still, there were more good than bad plays in the middle frame; the power play only needed less than 30 seconds to score the Habs’ first goal of the game, thanks to a perfect tic-tac-toe passing play completed by Slafkovsky.

As for the second goal, it was achieved thanks to Demidov’s combativeness. He chased the puck that was sent in deep by his linemate, battled hard with Josh Morrissey, outmuscled him and sent a perfect pass to Kapanen, who sent in a one-timer. It wasn’t the first fantastic set-up done by Demidov, but he finally converted on that one. With his eighth goal of the season, the Finnish forward rejoins Matthew Schaefer as the joint leader in goals scored amongst rookies. Meanwhile, the pass allows Demidov to join Beckett Senecke in the rookie scoring race and to reclaim sole lead in assists.

That build-up didn’t go unnoticed by the coach, who said:

When he’s involved physically, winning a battle, that’s a situation where you need to use your body, and he’s good at using his edges when there’s not a lot of space and to use a bit of physicality. If you want to produce in this league, you’ve got to be involved physically; you can’t be afraid of robust play.
- St-Louis on Demidov

Tonight, the young Russian spent 19:29 on the ice, by far the most ice time he has ever had, and he thrived with the added time. You can’t rush a young player’s development, but at the same time, it’s apparent that he’s so much further along than Slafkovsky was in his first season; it’s impressive to see.

A Big Fight For Xhekaj

After being criticized by some outlets for not fighting Kurtis MacDermid in Tuesday’s game against the Ottawa Senators, Arber Xhekaj dropped the gloves on Wednesday and took on Jets’ captain Adam Lowry. If the gritty defenseman has had trouble with winning his fights lately, it wasn’t the case tonight as he easily won the decision and skated away while pumping up the crowd.

He was still the blueliner St-Louis used the least, playing 13:41, but he had a solid game:

He played a good game, just like he did in the last game. That’s what we want, for him to give us quality minutes. When he does that, it forces us to give him more minutes. I’m happy with his game, and the fights and that, that’s his job, and it’s not an easy one, but he did it very well.
- St-Louis on Arber Xhekaj

This 3-2 shootout win will be great for the Canadiens’ collective confidence, but also for Dobes, who really stood out. With another back-to-back on the horizon this weekend, it will be interesting to see which goaltender gets to play the Maple Leafs in Toronto and who will take on the St. Louis Blues at the Bell Centre on Sunday.

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