Two promising young goalies will be on duty this afternoon as the Montreal Canadiens take on the Florida Panthers in Sunrise.
For the Habs, 23-year-old Czech Jakub Dobes will have the opportunity to play his first game in the NHL after being recalled from the Laval Rocket yesterday. He will be opposed to Spencer Knight, a former first round choice of the Florida team, also aged 23.
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Facing the Panthers will be quite a baptism of fire for Dobes, but CH coach Martin St-Louis really likes the idea of throwing him into the fray as quickly as possible.
“You throw him into a situation like that and you want to see how he will respond, I expect him to be combative,” he explained yesterday. Having him play right away eliminates the time to think about a lot of things.”
Defeated in its last match before the Christmas break, the Habs have nevertheless won six of their last ten duels. The Panthers, for their part, have won four of their last five games and delivered two emotional games to their great Florida rivals, the Tampa Bay Lightning, before the break.
The Wool case
Injured in the upper body against the Blue Jackets on December 23, forward Patrik Laine, author of eight goals in ten games, traveled with the team and trained normally yesterday.
The Panthers should count on an almost complete roster. Defender Niko Mikkola and bully Jonah Gadjovich are currently the only injured players on their side.
