SUNRISE | While Cayden Primeau was on waivers on Saturday afternoon, Jakub Dobes was walking on the waters in Florida.
Very solid in his first career start in the NHL, he blocked 34 shots to obtain a shutout in an improbable 4-0 victory for the Canadian over the Florida Panthers.
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He thus became the fourth goalie in Canadian history, and the first since Yann Danis in October 2005, to win by shutout in his first NHL start. Funny coincidence since the last goalie to have achieved this feat in the NHL was Zachary Fucale, in 2021. Fucale is a former second round pick of the Canadian.
The Canadian ended a nine-game losing streak in Florida. His last victory dates back to December 28, 2018, six years to the day. Numerology enthusiasts are in for a treat.
Calm
It was less than 48 hours ago that Dobes learned he was being recalled by the Canadiens and on Friday he learned he was getting his first NHL start against the Stanley Cup champions.
If he were an airplane pilot, he would probably be nicknamed Val Kilmer in Top GunIceman. The 23-year-old Czech displayed Olympian calm from the start of the match.
Quick in his movements, Dobes appeared comfortable even with a lot of traffic in front of him.
The big difference with what we saw from Cayden Primeau this season is that Dobes was confident in his movements and his control of the puck. He was notably able to put cover on the pot when the Panthers pressed insistently in the opposing zone.
The wise men
Since they were reunited earlier this month, Kirby Dach, Patrick Laine and Alex Newhook seemed to be looking for each other and it continued in a quiet first period.
But sometimes things change quickly in the NHL and that’s what happened in the second round where the Canadian was perhaps dominated in terms of shots on goal, but not in terms of goals.
All this because Dach, Newhook and Laine, like the three wise men, each brought their gift to offer a more than interesting cushion to Jakub Dobes.
They joined forces to produce the first two goals of the game. Laine felt his five-on-five game needed to improve, he was responsible for both goals even if his name is not attached to either of them. On the first, he drew three players along the boards to create space for his teammates and on the second, he took a puck from Nate Schmidt to allow Newhook to throw Dach on a breakaway.
Speaking of Newhook, he collected his first two assists of the season as Dach beat Spencer Knight twice in his first two-goal game since January 24, 2023.
Evans’ stick
The success of a team is often measured in the famous little details and there are players among the Canadians who manage to do them game after game.
That’s what Jake Evans does, especially when the team is down a man.
One sequence particularly well illustrated this desire to do everything to harm the opponent at the end of the second period.
As Martin St-Louis likes to say, Evans was tiring with his stick in the neutral zone until he stole a puck to cause a two-on-one which allowed him to score his third goal of the season shorthanded, which made him Tied for second place in the NHL with Alex Tuch.
