Sam Navarro-Imagn Images
Montreal Canadiens goalie Jakub Dobes stole the show in a game against the reigning Stanley Cup champions, the Florida Panthers. Dobes stopped all 34 shots the Panthers threw at him in a 4-0 victory.
With this performance, Dobes becomes the fifth goaltender to record a shutout in his NHL debut in Canadiens history. The last Habs goalie to achieve this was Yann Danis, in October 2005, during a 2-0 win against the Atlanta Thrashers.
Additionally, he becomes the second active goaltender to post a shutout in his debut. The other is John Gibson of the Anaheim Ducks in April 2014.
The Czech was Montreal’s fifth-round pick in the 2020 NHL Draft. The Canadiens waived Cayden Primeau and so Dobes got his first NHL opportunity four years after being drafted.
The Canadiens got an early look at Dobes in the preseason where he made two appearances and posted a .957 save percentage and 1.39 goals-against average.
Prior to this victory against the Panthers, Dobes spent this season and last with Montreal’s AHL affiliate, the Laval Rocket. This season, he played in 14 games for the Rocket, winning nine of those games while recording a .910 SP and 2.44 GAA.
His final game in the minors came against the Belleville Senators, in which he stopped 31 of 32 shots in a 2–1 victory. He finished this game with a .969 SP. But, in his entire AHL career, the 23-year-old has played a total of 65 games with a 33-21-7 record in Laval and has a .906 SP and 2.82 GAA over two campaigns.
Prior to his time in the AHL, he played in the NCAA for Ohio State University and was recognized as the league’s best goaltender in the 2021-22 season. During two seasons in the NCAA, he played in 75 games with a record of 42-28-5, while earning a SP of .926.
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