Jakub Dobes Is The Clear Habs Starter

Despite having won 5 of his previous 6 starts and Samuel Montembeault having lost two big matchups, Dobes was not seen as the Habs #1 netminder just a week ago. However, after having huge wins against the Vegas Golden Knights and Colorado Avalanche, where Dobes made very key saves in helping the Habs get a victory, it became a no-brainer by the time Saturday night’s game against the Sabres that he deserved the huge matchup against the Sabres. It would turn out that Dobes would have arguably his best game of the season as he stopped a season-high 38 shots in a 4-2 win which propelled the Canadiens into the 3rd spot in the Atlantic Division.

Throughout the 3 games this past week, Dobes posted a great .931 save percentage with a 2.29 GAA. He is playing around just as well as he did during the start of the season where he won his first 6 games. During that time, Dobes had a 1.97 GAA and a .930 save percentage. It may be a smaller sample now but it’s clear that Dobes has found his best game yet again. If we move the sample size to Dobes’ last 9 games where he hasn’t lost a game in regulation going 8-0-1, his numbers becom are a very modest but good enough .905 save percentage and 2.52 GAA. If Dobes can continue to post numbers like that most nights, the Canadiens will win more often than not.

Following last Saturday’s loss against the Boston Bruins, Tony Marinaro tweeted that the Habs need to start a goaltender until he loses, which seems to be what the Canadiens are doing now. However, with just how well he’s been playing, the Canadiens shouldn’t punish Dobes by sitting him even if he loses his next matchup. On the other hand, if he just keeps winning, then there will also be a game that Montembeault should play to take some of the load off Dobes.

The Habs next game will be against the Minnesota Wild on Monday  and it is very possible that Dobes gets his 4th straight start for only the 2nd time of his NHL career. The first time was when Dobes had to play 4 straight games over a 6-day period because the Canadiens could no longer put their trust in Montembeaullt after struggling two straight months. The difference of Dobes getting 4 straight starts this time around would be that he was able to have at least a day off in between each game and therefore not getting overwhelmed.

Given Montembeault’s struggles recently, it would be smart to have Dobes start again on Monday. However, the Canadiens should give Montembeault one game before the Olympic break to see if working with Marco Merciano has helped him turn his struggles around yet again. With only two games left the Habs should probably split the games between their two goaltenders.

Would you play Dobes in both games this week or split the games between him and Montembeault?