If we had to identify the most improved player for the Laval Rocket since the start of the season, the vast majority of observers would opt for defender Logan Mailloux. But if just one of them were to name goalkeeper Jakub Dobes, he couldn’t be blamed for going completely wrong.
Destiny would have it that these two young prospects from the Montreal Canadiens proved to be the pillars of an important 3-2 victory against the Hershey Bears, the power of the American Hockey League, Wednesday evening at Place Bell.
The former scored the only goal of the shootout with a quick wrist shot to which goalkeeper Hunter Shepard never had time to react.
The second closed the door to the Bears during this same session. He also blocked, with disconcerting ease, a penalty shot from Mike Vecchione, when there was a little more than four minutes gone in the match and the score was still 0-0.
“It’s as good as a goal, when you save one like that on a penalty shot,” compared Philippe Maillet, one of the Rocket’s two scorers in regulation time, Wednesday.
“He really had a good game and I would even say that since Christmas he has been playing great hockey. It sure gives us confidence when we have a goalkeeper like that behind us,” added Maillet.
Against the Bears, Dobes had to be particularly vigilant in the second period, which the visitors completely dominated. The shots on goal — 17-7 — demonstrated it.
Dobes only gave in once in the middle period, while the Rocket played four against five, on a cannonball against which he could do absolutely nothing. A good backhand shot then thwarted him early in the third period.
“Our head coach told us they (the Bears) weren’t going to be happy (after the first period), and that we were going to have to be ready. And we were,” Dobes recounted.
“They scored, but we didn’t panic. They scored again in the third, and we didn’t panic. The team did an excellent job of staying in the game and not showing any weaknesses. We played with composure,” he added.
A good sequence
Dobes’ performance Wednesday night joins several others he has performed over the past two months.
Since a disastrous outing in which he conceded three goals on seven shots in less than four minutes of play in Abbotsford on December 2, the 22-year-old goalkeeper has a record of 12-5-3. In this interval, his goals allowed average is 2.57 and his efficiency rate is .916.
“He’s playing really well these days. It didn’t start out the way he wanted, but he settled in really well. We see that he is confident. He wants to receive shots and he is much more in control in front of his net. It’s not everywhere. He is making very good progress, and we hope he continues like that,” underlined head coach Jean-François Houle.
“He’s a young goalkeeper,” he continued about Dobes. It’s good for the organization to have a young goalie who plays a lot of games like that. I haven’t looked at the other goalies, but in my opinion, he’s one of the youngest who has played the most games in the American League, and I think that’s a very good thing. »
For the entire season, Dobes’ record is 15-10-5 with an overall average of 3.20 and an efficiency rating of .898. But all that matters, in the eyes of the Czech goaltender, is is the very first number in this list of statistics.
“I only look at the victories. Right now the number is 15 and that’s the most important thing. I don’t look at save percentage and goals allowed average, as long as we win. Whether it’s 1-0, 7-6, it doesn’t matter. It’s a team sport,” he concluded.