We didn’t think much of the Canadian before his six-game streak abroad, he came out one point short of a playoff spot. Who would have bet on that before Christmas?
• Also read: A victory signed by Dobes to finish the trip
It’s not a joke, the Canadian now has 39 points, one less than the Columbus Blue Jackets, and the Pittsburgh Penguins who however played one more game. The Senators also have 40 points, but have a game in hand on the Canadian.
If he won his last match of this long journey, he can say a big thank you to goalkeeper Jakub Dobes who was imposing in front of the net, only giving in once to Mikko Rantanen at the start of the match, a goal scored in numerical advantage.
The big Czech played with so much confidence in front of his net that we come to forget that he is a 23-year-old rookie who was only playing his second game in the NHL.
Rantanen, even if he was the only Avalanche player to thwart him, will certainly have nightmares when he thinks back to Dobes who stole goals from him at the end of the second and third period in addition to closing his door. door in barrage.
Like a gentleman
We can say that Dobes played like a man in front of the Canadian net because he was stoic, even when Ross Colton, in the first period, and Artturi Lehkonen, in overtime, came into heavy contact with him.
He is big and strong and he doesn’t let it get to him even in critical moments.
We saw it clearly when he stood up in front of Lehkonen when the latter appeared on a breakaway after leaving the penalty box in overtime. Dobes never flinched. Even in the shootout where he gave up nothing to Jonathan Drouin who had started before Rantanen.
With all that, the one who was in front of the Laval Rocket net less than two weeks ago allowed only one goal on 57 shots in his first two NHL starts. It’s a small sample size, but just as was the case against the Florida Panthers a week ago, he gave his team a great chance to win.
Combativeness
The Canadian therefore concludes his six-game trip with a record of four wins and two losses in addition to having a record of seven wins and three losses in his last ten outings. If you predicted it, we’re going to have to have written proof.
The contrast between the current team and the one we saw until mid-December is striking. Up until that point, the team had been fragile when conceding a goal, often giving in a second time in the following minutes.
It was quite the opposite during the last few meetings as the team showed itself to be resilient and resolute in the face of adversity.
In a second match in as many evenings and having to change time zones in addition to finding himself in the rarefied air of Colorado, the Canadian could have folded his knees, but even if the Habs took nearly eleven minutes and nine minutes to getting a first shot in the first two periods, he was never downgraded by the Avalanche.
And when Rantanen opened the scoring, midway through the first period, the Bleu-blanc-rouge pressed the pedal and showed no signs of fatigue.
We’re not going to leave in fear, but it’s starting to smell good and with eight games out of twelve at the Bell Center between now and the end of the month, Martin St-Louis’ troop has the opportunity to put themselves in an even more interesting position for the home stretch.
