Cowan: Coach Martin St. Louis’s faith in Jakub Dobes pays off in Game 5 win

Martin St. Louis likes to say he will never give up on a player unless that player gives up on himself.

The Canadiens head coach didn’t give up on Jakub Dobes on Thursday night in Buffalo and the rookie goalie — a fifth-round pick (136th overall) at the 2020 NHL Draft who has never given up on himself — paid him back big-time.

Dobes allowed three goals on the first four shots he faced in Game 5 of the second round playoff series against the Sabres — the third one was a real softie — and the Canadiens were losing 3-2 just over midway through the first period.

But St. Louis decided to stick with Dobes, who stopped the next 32 shots he faced as the Canadiens won 6-3 to take a 3-2 lead in the best-of-seven series with Game 6 slated for Saturday at the Bell Centre (8 p.m., CBC, SN, TVA Sports). Game 7, if necessary, would be Monday night back in Buffalo.

After the game, St. Louis told reporters in Buffalo it was goalie coach Marco Marciano who told him he should stick with Dobes after the third goal against.

The youngest team in the playoffs for the second straight year is now one win away from facing the Carolina Hurricanes in the Eastern Conference final. The Canadiens are 5-2 on the road in the playoffs after winning three of four games in Tampa in their seven-game series win over the Lightning in the first round.

Cole Caufield, Alexandre Texier, Josh Anderson, Jake Evans, Nick Suzuki and Ivan Demidov scored for the Canadiens on Thursday night. For Caufield, it was his fourth goal of the playoffs and his first at five-on-five, extending his goal streak to three games. For the rookie Demidov it was his first NHL playoff goal. Suzuki added two assists and now has 4-8-12 totals in 12 playoff games. Defenceman Lane Hutson had two assists and now has 2-10-12 totals in 12 playoff games.

“I’ve liked the way our team’s played on the road all year,” St. Louis told reporters in Buffalo on Thursday morning. “I don’t think we’re preoccupied home or away. We have a brand we’re trying to play and we go.”

The Canadiens lost Game 4 at the Bell Centre on Tuesday in large part because they went 1-for-7 on the power play, while the Sabres went 2-for-4 with the man-advantage.

Sabres head coach Lindy Ruff complained after that game the Canadiens were falling to the ice too easily to draw penalties. On Wednesday, St. Louis asked if Ruff was also talking about his own players.

On Thursday morning, when asked again about Ruff’s comments, St. Louis told reporters in Buffalo: “I feel like if I’m relying on the refs for me to win the series, I’m spending my energy in the wrong place.”

Great answer.

Buffalo Sabres’ Beck Malenstyn (29) looks away as the Canadiens celebrate a goal by Ivan Demidov (93) during the third period on Thursday night. Harry Scull Jr. / Buffalo News

Referees Chris Rooney and Graham Skilliter decided to put their whistles in their pockets to start Game 5, letting the players play without a single penalty called in the first period. That’s a good way to get rid of any embellishing and it also made for an entertaining period with five goals and the Sabres taking a 3-2 lead.

The Canadiens’ Juraj Slafkovsky took the first penalty of the game for high-sticking Josh Doan 12:51 into the second period with the score tied 3-3 after Anderson scored his third goal of the playoffs, but the Sabres failed to score on the ensuing power play.

Evans scored his first goal of the playoffs at 16:15 of the second period to give the Canadiens their first lead of the game. After the Sabres took several dumb penalties in Game 4, Josh Doan took another one for cross-checking Evans in the face 17:23 into the second period of Game 5 and the Canadiens made them pay with Suzuki scoring 10 seconds later to make the score 5-3.

The Sabres’ Rasmus Dahlin was penalized 2:09 into the third period for cross-checking Demidov as he drove to the net and the Russian rookie scored on the ensuing power play.

The Canadiens finished the game 2-for-2 on the power play, while the Sabres were 0-for-2.

Ruff will have to find something other than the referees and Canadiens players falling to the ice to complain about ahead of Game 6.

Dobes and the Canadiens now have a 5-0 record in the playoffs after a loss and the rookie goalie improved his playoff record to 7-5 with a 2.28 goals-against average and a .914 save percentage.

It was Ruff who ended up pulling his goalie, Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen, after he gave up five goals on 23 shots in the first two periods. Alex Lyon allowed one goal on three shots in the third period.

St. Louis also spoke Thursday morning about how much he enjoyed the environment of coaching in the playoffs.

“You feel you’re on the battlefield and you’re trying to win this battle against this team and it takes four wins,” he told reporters in Buffalo. “You get knocked down and the process of getting back up. To me, it’s like a boxing match almost where the round’s over, you talk about it. You might have won the round, lost the round. You kind of make subtle adjustments, you get back and you show some courage.”

The Canadiens — and Dobes — showed a lot of courage in Game 5. So did St. Louis by sticking with his rookie goalie.

“To me, just being inside that battlefield … I know I’m not on the ice, but you’re in there with them,” St. Louis said. “It’s pretty fun.”

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