Todd: Martin St. Louis presses all the right buttons as Canadiens’ belief grows

The first goal skipped like a flat rock on a still pond — if the pond happened to be in a forest.

The second goal was more of a pinball shot, bounding left and right through the woods on its way to the net.

The third goal, a prayer sent from well outside, went through Lane Hutson’s legs and beat Jakub Dobes under his pads.

Three goals on four shots.

Canadiens winger Cole Caufield celebrates his first-period goal with captain Nick Suzuki during Game 5 against the Sabres at KeyBank Center in Buffalo on Thursday night. Joe Hrycych / Getty Images

It took all of 10 minutes and 15 seconds for the Canadiens to fall behind the Sabres 3-2 in Buffalo Thursday night, and by the time the third goal was in the net, fans were jumping off the Dobes bandwagon like grasshoppers off a burning haystack.

They wanted Dobes yanked in favour of another rookie, Jacob Fowler, and they wanted it now. They wanted Dobes out. Gone and possibly forgotten, as though this stirring playoff run in spring 2026 were a mirage that had nothing to do with the brilliant play of the rookie Czech goaltender.

Nor were the professional commentators any better. Kelly Hrudey, who played goal for Coach Mullet on the Los Angeles Kings team that lost to the Canadiens in the 1993 Stanley Cup final, said at the first intermission, “I don’t know what you do with him, either. Do you take him out or leave him in?”

Thank the lord above and all the stars in heaven that Hrudey does not coach the Montreal Canadiens. Nor do the fans. Or some of the veteran journalists who wanted Dobes benched.

Martin St. Louis is made of sterner, wiser stuff. There is a reason Montreal’s young stars have so much confidence. They believe in themselves because St. Louis believes in them.

St. Louis also believes in his coaches. What happened after Dobes allowed those three goals? St. Louis listened. It’s a thing he does. He asked goaltending coach Marco Marciano what he thought he should do. Marciano, a big part of the Canadiens’ success this season after he replaced Eric Raymond, said he would leave him in.

Canadiens celebrate a goal against the Sabres during the third period of Game 5 at KeyBank Center in Buffalo on Thursday night. Joed Viera Jr. / Buffalo News

St. Louis left him in. Dobes made the saves the rest of the way and the Canadiens skated away with another thunderous road win that left them a win away from an Eastern Conference final against the Carolina Hurricanes.

Frankly, I don’t get it. We’ve been watching coach and team for the past four years now, as they grew from a 55-point mess in 2022 to 106 points this season, through a first-round win over a very tough Tampa team in an excruciating, tight-checking battle and (now) a 3-2 series lead over another terrific team in a wild and woolly series.

And we haven’t learned a thing. We haven’t learned how resilient this team is. We haven’t learned that Dobes has the bulldog tenacity of Jaro Halak in a 6-foot-4 body or that St. Louis does not follow the old-school ways. Lindy Ruff, who has been around so long that he coached the Sabres when they swept the Canadiens in the second round of the 1998 playoffs, doesn’t have Dominik Hasek this time. Instead, he has lurched from Alex Lyon to Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen and back to Lyon while the Sabres fall behind.

The Canadiens’ win was part of a wild hockey night in Montreal, Buffalo and Laval. In the opening game of the PWHL’s Walter Cup final, the Montreal Victoire fell behind 1-0 and 2-1 at Place Bell. Then Marie-Philip Poulin’s desperation pass found Maureen Murphy in front. Murphy’s shot was blocked, but Nicole Gosling sprawled to score the tying goal with 2.1 seconds to play.

That set the stage for Abby Roque’s second goal of the game 2:29 into overtime on a puck that bounced off a stick, the front of her helmet and in.

Game 2 of the best-of-five Walter Cup final will be played Saturday (2 p.m., TSN1, RDS), so unless they go to six overtimes, the Victoire should be able to avoid going head-to-head with the Canadiens (8 p.m., CBC, SN, SN1, ABC, TVA Sports), who will be trying to wrap up the series in their first Saturday night appearance of the playoffs.

Victoire players celebrate their overtime win against the Ottawa Charge during Game 1 of the PWHL Walter Cup final in Laval on Thursday night. Evan Buhler / Montreal Gazette

The Canadiens grabbed the lead because Ivan Demidov is getting better by the game. They tied it after that third goal because Josh Anderson is Playoff Josh, because towering Buffalo sniper Tage Thompson took an absolutely idiotic penalty for cross-checking Jake Evans and contributed an epic fail on an attempted embellishment.

They won because steady Nick Suzuki just keeps it up in every facet of the game, because Joe Veleno has been a revelation, because the gifted Lane Hutson could thread a pass through your dreams and because Dobes is the goalie who got them here in the first place.

Times change. Scotty Bowman got the most out of Guy Lafleur, Larry Robinson, Ken Dryden & Co. by making himself their common enemy.

St. Louis is getting the most out of this team because he is both father and friend, as you saw in that touching moment after Demidov scored.

Bowman is the greatest coach the NHL has ever seen. St. Louis is taking a different path with the same goal: Win.

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