What the Puck: Canadiens fans blow lid off Bell Centre as magical Dobes Spring rolls on

The magical Dobes Spring continues.

Two weeks ago, I was tentatively saying maybe we should be calling this the Dobes Spring in honour of rookie Canadiens goalie Jakub Dobes, but I wondered if that was a bit over the top. Well, apparently it isn’t.

The Canadiens beat the Buffalo Sabres 3-2 in Game 7 of the second-round series Monday and advanced to meet the Carolina Hurricanes in the Eastern Conference final, which begins Thursday in Raleigh, N.C. Dobes stopped 37 of 39 shots, and everyone I spoke to after the watch party at the Bell Centre said the victory was all about the extraordinary play of the Habs’ Czech goalie.

Canadiens fans celebrate the Habs’ Game 7 win over the Buffalo Sabres at the Bell Centre in Montreal on Monday night. Evan Buhler / Montreal Gazette

Wassem Zahra was shouting when I spoke with him just after the end of the OT.

“Dobes is the GOAT; Dobes is the GOAT,” said Zahra. “Thank you, Dobes, thank you. We love you. I love him. We all love him.”

Well, that’s clear enough and pretty much the majority sentiment in Montreal at this moment — Dobes is the greatest of all time.

Jonathan Newcomb just couldn’t believe what happened.

“The OT, I couldn’t stand it. My heart was beating out of my chest,” said Newcomb. “I didn’t even see the puck go in. I just saw everyone go up and I jumped up, and it was crazy. I think it just goes to show how much this city loves hockey and how much it means to this city. We sold out the Bell Centre and they’re not even playing here. You walk around the city, everyone has Habs flags, all the buses have ‘Go Habs Go.’

“The (team) performs best when everyone is together, and nothing brings Montreal together like the Montreal Canadiens,” Newcomb added. “We’re the youngest team to make the playoffs and we’re going to go all the way. I truly believe it. Everyone had Tampa beating us and going all the way. I think it just goes to show how Martin St. Louis treats his players. He puts trust in them and they reward that. They come through for him.”

Alex Newhook scored the series-winning goal in overtime, his second Game 7 winner of this playoff run. That’s pretty amazing. It was a game that, in many ways, the Canadiens didn’t deserve to win. They were completely outplayed by the Sabres during the second and third periods, but came to life in overtime. It’s just been that kind of a wild run for the team. They won Game 7 against the Tampa Bay Lightning even though they only managed nine shots in the game. In both cases, the reason they won was the self-proclaimed goofy goalie between the pipes. The guy who says he’s no hero, just a goofball who plays hockey and then goes home and watches Game of Thrones. Yeah, right.

Don Thompson, who’s been a Habs fan since he first saw them play the Flyers in Philly as a kid, came up from Atlantic City, N.J., to see the game.

“I go anywhere and everywhere to see (the Canadiens),” said Thompson. “I have to go home tomorrow, but I will be back on Monday.”

On Monday, the Canadiens will host their first game of the conference final against the Hurricanes.

I told him I was having my doubts during the game.

“I was nervous in the third period; I was nervous in the overtime,” said Thomson. “You know what? The goaltending advantage was always ours. After they beat Tampa, I thought nobody can stop them except maybe the (Colorado) Avalanche, but that’s for another day. Words can’t describe it. It’s been forever since they’ve been this good. This has just been a dream season. The youngest team in the league. They talked about a rebuild, and here we are. The rebuild is over.”

Heather McIntosh said she was worried it was going to go to a second overtime period.

“I was getting nervous,” said McIntosh. “But I felt they would win today. Was I right?”

I told her she was.

McIntosh’s friend, Andrea Stebens, said she just loves the fan base.

“There’s nothing better than Canadiens fans,” said Stebens. “They’re a great young team. They’re going to go places, and Dobes is something to be reckoned with. I just love that man. He’s an amazing goalie. He takes no crap from anyone.”

The Montréal Canadiens celebrate their overtime win over the Buffalo Sabres in Game 7 at KeyBank Center in Buffalo on Monday night. Joed Viera / Buffalo News

There really is something magical going on here. After they took a 2-0 lead, the Canadiens didn’t play a great game. They lacked intensity. But Dobes kept them in it with the kind of heroics that have become routine for this dude — and then when it counted, the Habs came through in the overtime. There is something about the Canadiens, about their spirit, about the family coach St. Louis has built.

Even management didn’t think this was going to happen. If they had, they would’ve picked up some pieces at the deadline. They thought the contending was coming next year or maybe the year after. But as the Lightning and the Sabres discovered, you should never underestimate these underdogs. Sure, it’s Dobes, but it’s also the team spirit. There’s just no giving up with these young players.

Someone better tell the Hurricanes. On second thought, don’t tell them.

[email protected]

The post What the Puck: Canadiens fans blow lid off Bell Centre as magical Dobes Spring rolls on appeared first on Montreal Gazette.