The final game of a six-game road trip for the Montreal Canadiens in Denver. Depending on the targets set, after the first five games, it was already a job well done.
If the goal is respectable hockey against quality opponents, the Canadiens already proved they could do that. However, if the goal is to fight for a playoff spot, nothing less than a 4-2 record was needed for the trip.
The Canadiens had to have a victory over the Colorado Avalanche for that all-important winning record for their playoff hopes, and they got it with a dramatic comeback 2-1 verdict in a shootout.
Wilde Horses
The organization could not have hoped for more from Jakub Dobes. In the first game of his NHL career, Dobes pitched a 34-save shutout against the defending Stanley Cup champions in Florida. In the second game, he continued his outstanding net minding allowing one goal on 23 shots.
Dobes was reading the play well. He was square to the puck. He was aggressive when the opportunity was there. He was quick with his glove. He didn’t give up big rebounds, but directed the shots into the corner when he could. He had confident body language. He even distributed the puck on clears for quick transitions on offence.
He made outstanding saves. The best was with 40 seconds left in overtime. Artturi Lehkonen had a clear-cup breakaway from centre ice coming out of the penalty box. Dobes stood strong and stoned him on the shot.
It went to a shootout and he kept on shining brightly. The first stop was perfect off Jonathan Drouin with the glove. The second was even more impressive as Mikko Rantanen made a terrific move, but Dobes bought and bit on nothing. When Rantanen finally shot, he was practically in the corner and Dobes was still perfectly square to him.
Dobes didn’t have to save the third shot because Cole Caufield and Kirby Dach scored on their shots to seal the win before Colorado brought MacKinnon had a chance to come to the centre dot.
Dobes looks like an NHL goalie, without a doubt. It was hard to see any difference between him and any other veteran in the crease in any of the 32 cities in the league.
Dobes is exactly what Montreal needs to keep this momentum going as they improve their play this season. The previous back-up Cayden Primeau had an .836 save percentage, while Dobes in two games has a .982.
This is a small sample size, and the best shooters in hockey have a talent to find weaknesses the more they look at a goalie, but, so far, they haven’t found any weakness, and no goaltending experts can find one either.
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Dobes shone much more than any other Canadiens player. He was an absolute force. Others performed well too. On defence, Kaiden Guhle was solid again. On offence, Josh Anderson worked his tail off trying to make a difference, and the line of Joel Armia, Jake Evans, and Emil Heineman was strong yet again.
However, nothing was working on the scoreboard until some magic with six minutes left when the Canadiens tied it with an absolutely gorgeous goal. It was one of the prettiest goals of the season.
Jake Evans broke up the play at the blue line pushing the puck forward to Lane Hutson. Hutson dished with a no-look all-instincts pass to Caufield who quickly fed Suzuki on the left side. Suzuki then showed amazing patience on the 2-on-1 on the pass to Caufield who showed his usual sensational finish roofing his shot. It was complete hockey.
For Caufield, it was his 21st goal of the season. He is on pace for 44 goals on the campaign. The goal forced overtime in a contest that gained in excitement in the final eight minutes of regulation.
The Canadiens beat the last four Stanley Cup champions on a six-game road trip while losing to the two clubs outside of the playoffs. Plenty of reason to believe this is coming together. It is impossible to fluke four wins out of four against terrific teams.
Wilde Goats
Win or lose in the last month, the Canadiens always appear to be the equal of their opposition. They faced the Panthers, Lightning and Golden Knights, won them all, and looked like a hockey team moving up the ladder. Against the Avalanche, it was the same story. They competed and were in it all the way.
In an 82 game schedule, some games one team has all the jump of a rested club waiting for their opposition to come to town, and the other team is hanging on in exhaustion. That the Canadiens somehow managed to keep the legs moving was a testament to how far they have come.
This was what is known as a ‘scheduled loss’ in sports circles because the computer that creates the schedule has scheduled one team perfectly rested and prepared, while the other team is getting in their hotel bed at three in the morning because they played that night.
However, the Canadiens didn’t follow the script that the NHL had written for a scheduled loss. They won it instead. No goats with an effort like that on no rest against one of the league’s best teams.
Wilde Cards
In the NHL, there is a saying that if you’re not in the playoff mix at American thanksgiving, then you’re not going to make the playoffs. It is extremely difficult to make up points when it is not a ‘two for a win and zero for a loss’ scenario in the league.
The fact that so many games have a losing team awarded one point creates a false sense of proximity to a playoff spot. Unlike the car’s rear view mirror, objects are not closer than they appear; they are farther.
Two points back of a playoff spot sounds so easy, but getting to 93 points in the final 43 games is the actual target. That target is going to take some outstanding hockey. The Canadiens need 54 points in the final 43 which translates to 27 wins and 16 losses.
The loss to the Blackhawks on Friday night was harmful. The Canadiens have dug a hole so deep that they cannot afford to lose to bad teams. The road to the playoffs in sports is go .500 against the better teams and beat the bad teams on the regular.
In the final 44, the Canadiens need to go 7-4 each of the four 11 game segments. Just one segment of .500 and it’s essentially over because then they would need a 10-1 segment to recover from it.
The good news is the Canadiens are playing better and just finished an 11 game segment at 7-4 but they can’t let up. In the next 11 game segment, they have three wins in four games. They are on course in the last month to make a run for this playoff berth. The numbers are difficult, but, shockingly, they are actually solving their math problems.
Watch every game like their playoff lives depend on it, because though it may not feel like it, it’s where they are in the fight.
Brian Wilde, a Montreal-based sports writer, brings you Call of the Wilde on globalnews.ca after each Canadiens game.
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