The Habs Playoff MVP: Jakub Dobes

In the first round when Dobes went up against the Tampa Bay Lightning, he did a great job outplaying Vezina candidate Andrei Vasilevskiy throughout the 7-game series, although it was a series that saw the Habs play a very solid game all around. Overall the Habs outplayed the Lightning in Games 1, 3, 5, and 6, which is why they deserved to win the series. However, when it came to coming up clutch in Game 7 after Vasilevskiy stole Game 6 in a 1-0 overtime victory to send the series back to Tampa for Game 7, it was Dobes who got the job done.

In Game 7, it was all thanks to Dobes, who made 28 saves on the 29 shots that he faced, giving the Habs the 2-1 victory. The Canadiens also only had 9 shots on net, as they didn’t get a single shot on Vasilevskiy during the 2nd period. However, the Habs were opportunistic with their chances as they managed to beat Vasilevskiy twice on just 9 shots. The hockey gods were certainly on the Habs’ side as Alex Newhook batted a puck out of the air that went off Vasilevskiy’s back and in to give them the lead in Game 7. Then, Dobes shut the door the rest of the way to hold on and send the Habs to Round 2.

Despite being the obvious hero in Game 7, Dobes had some competition in Lane Hutson, who had a very good series in his own right after he led the way for the Habs offensively by putting up 2 goals and 6 points in 7 games throughout the series. While the Canadiens’ star defenseman put up a good fight as the series MVP for the Habs, Dobes’ performance in the end gives him the edge. Dobes posted a great one. 923 save percentage with a 2.03 GAA in the series, but it was really the final three games that made the difference. His numbers went up to an incredible level. 961 save percentage and 1.27 GAA in the 3 most important games at the end of Round 1.

In the 2nd round series against the Buffalo Sabres, Dobes continued his solid play, but he wasn’t the guy that came up clutch in that series the most. Instead, it was Newhook’s timely goals that would earn him the MVP for this series over Dobes, in my opinion. A lot of the reason for that is Dobes had some tough moments throughout the 7 games against the Sabres that really hurt his case. However, he still put up some solid performances that helped him play a huge role throughout the series.

What separates Newhook from Dobes is that he was red-hot between Games 2 and 4, where he scored 5 goals in 3 games, and may have had a few games where he didn’t score, but he never once hurt the team throughout the series. Then, it was him that put the dagger in the Sabres’ season with a beautiful Game 7 overtime winner to send the Habs to the Eastern Conference Finals.

On Dobes’ end, he had a terrible start to Game 5, where he almost cost the team after allowing 3 goals on the first 4 shots of the game. Luckily, he would stay in the game and not allow anything else to get by him as he’d make 32 saves, while his teammates would score 4 unanswered goals to get the Canadiens the victory. Unfortunately in Game 6 it was a tough defensive night as Dobes would allow 6 goals on 33 shots before he got pulled as the Habs would end up losing 8-3.

In Game 7 he would bounce back, stopping 37 of 39 shots in another great series-deciding game performance, but due to his struggles in the previous two games, Newhook’s success gives him the edge. Dobes finished the series with a .897 save percentage and 3.03 GAA, while Newhook scored 6 goals as well as an assist in 7 games. In the end, it probably could go either way between those two along with Hutson getting an honourable mention with the team-leading 8 assists.

Throughout Game 1 of the Eastern Conference Finals, he had a very solid game, but he wasn’t needed as much, as it would be the only game where his teammates had a great offensive performance in a 6-2 win. Unfortunately after that game, the gas started to run out, and while the Habs would get to overtime, it was hugely thanks to him. Dobes made huge saves to keep the Habs around to tie the game on both of the next two nights, which forced overtime.

The Canadiens netminder probably had his best game of the postseason in Game 3 when he made 36 saves on 39 shots, where he stopped nearly every high-danger shot despite the 3-2 overtime loss. The next game, the Habs players officially had nothing left to give, and despite allowing 3 goals on 14 shots in the first period, Dobes would not allow another goal by him as he stopped 40 shots on the night. Sadly, it was too little too late, as the Habs would lose 4-0 with an empty netter. In the elimination game, Dobes had his worst game of the series, but it wouldn’t make a difference as his team let him down again in the 6-1 Game 5 loss. He finished the series with a .907 save percentage and 3.05 GAA, which is really good given how bad his team played throughout the 5 games.

Considering he was the only one that had any positive consistency in the Eastern Conference Finals for the Habs, there is no denying he is both the MVP for that playoff round and the entire Canadiens postseason. Dobes would finish the entire playoffs with a solid. 908 save percentage and 2.86 GAA to help the Habs have a solid run to the Eastern Conference Finals on his back. In fact, his run was very similar to the run that Jaroslav Halak had in 2010, as both goaltenders were the reason the Habs got so far. However, Halak’s 2.55 GAA and .923 save percentage still beats Dobes by a good margin. On the positive side, it shows that the Habs have a much better team than they had in 2010. This team will also only get better to support Dobes in the future.