Canadiens confident their rookie goalies can get job done against Lightning

While it’s relatively rare in the NHL, there have been times when rookie goaltenders led their teams to the Stanley Cup.

Patrick Roy defied the odds with the Canadiens in 1986, while Ken Dryden backstopped the team in 1971 — after playing only six late regular-season games. Elsewhere, Jordan Binnington was a rookie with St. Louis in 2019 when the Blues won the Cup, while Matt Murray did the same with Pittsburgh, winning consecutive championships in 2016 and ’17 while maintaining rookie status.

Should the Canadiens upset the Tampa Bay Lightning in the opening-round of their playoff series, rookie goalies Jakub Dobes and, if necessary, Jacob Fowler, will undoubtedly play central figures. The best-of-seven series begins Sunday afternoon in Florida (5:45 p.m., CBC, SN, TVA Sports, TSN Radio-690, 98.5 FM).

Jakub Dobes, expected to start the series, went 29-10-4 in 43 games for the Canadiens, along with a 2.78 average and .901 save percentage. John Mahoney / Montreal Gazette

Canadiens head coach Martin St. Louis doesn’t believe the stage will be too big for his netminders, based on their behaviour this season.

“Yes, your goalie’s very important, but I think we’re in a better place in front of them, as a group, to help them out,” St. Louis said after Friday morning’s practice in Brossard. “To not have them stand on their head all the time.

“I’d like that (but) if that’s the only way you’re going to win it’s going to be hard. You need some good hockey in front of them. That gives me confidence we can do that for them.”

Dobes, expected to start the series, went 29-10-4 in 43 games, along with a 2.78 average and .901 save percentage. While the 24-year-old lost his final two starts behind a team that looked uninspired, he was brilliant following the break for the Winter Olympics, winning seven consecutive games at one point.

Fowler, only 21, spent two separate stints with the Canadiens, initially recalled from AHL Laval in December when veteran Samuel Montembeault in particular was struggling. Fowler went 9-6-2 in 17 games while posting a 2.43 average and .908 save percentage. He also recorded the Canadiens’ only shutout this season, Dec. 20 against Pittsburgh, while stopping 31 shots.

It was Fowler’s ascension, combined with Dobes’s stellar play, that eventually rendered Montembeault moot in the organization’s plans this season.

“I feel like every game that I played — I wouldn’t say it was a playoff game — but it meant a lot to me and I was trying to do my best,” Dobes said. “It’s going to be the same way in the playoffs.”

Although Dobes’s style of play can best be described as unorthodox — he likes to roam from his net to play the puck while using his 6-foot-4, 215-pound frame to block shots, sometimes in unconventional fashion — he always appears calm and locked-in. Dobes also became more technically sound after Marco Marciano replaced Éric Raymond as his goalie coach in late January.

“It helped that I was playing more. I was just getting more confident there and more comfortable,” Dobes said. “The playing time made a big difference. I was trying to give it back and be as consistent as possible.”

While the Canadiens, and Dobes, have little playoff experience, he did appear in portions of three games — including two starts — last season against Washington after Montembeault was injured. Dobes was credited with the Game 3 win while posting a 2.91 average and .881 save percentage.

While Dobes knows the Lightning have a deep, talented and experienced team, he won’t be intimidated by the challenge.

“I feel like we’re a really good team,” he said. “I won’t say the best, but we’re one of the best in our conference. I just feel, as a group, that we believe in each other. I feel like the whole season was smooth. We knew what to do to get back into the playoffs. Experience plays a huge part, even though we’re a younger team. I feel like, going into Sunday, we’ll know what to expect.

“Today is Friday, tomorrow is Saturday and Sunday is the game. That’s how I approach it,” Dobes quipped. “Everything’s the same. Same puck. Same players. Last year I was more excited than I needed to be. This year I can just go and play. Know it’s the same hockey. Experience? I wouldn’t say we have much, but at least we have some.”

Captain Nick Suzuki returned to practice on Friday following the birth on Thursday of his first child, a girl name Maya. Defenceman Kaiden Guhle, who also received a maintenance day on Thursday, returned as well.

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