Jakub Dobes slid too far over, exposing the back door of his crease on the first of four straight goals he’d end up wanting back by night’s end.
This game against the Washington Capitals was meant to be a bounce back for him after allowing 11 goals combined in his last two starts and then being forced to watch Jacob Fowler take his net for three straight games. But it ended up being a step back for the goaltender, who’s serving up early-season proof of how elusive consistency can be at his position.
Samuel Montembeault had it for two straight years before losing it completely and being unseated by Dobes last season. And now it’s Dobes who’s failing to fend off Fowler, following up a brilliant spring with a gloomy fall.
No goaltender stopped more expected goals from last trade deadline through three rounds of the playoffs than the 25-year-old Czech, but right now he looks as though he can’t even make routine saves — like the ones the Capitals fed him through most of Wednesday’s game.
It was a game the Montreal Canadiens completely dominated, holding the Capitals without a high-danger scoring chance at five-on-five through the first 48:54 before only allowing them two through the final 11:06.
Dobes saved those, and you couldn’t fault him for not stopping the power-play goal Jordan Kyrou scored from the middle of the slot to tie the game 1-1 in the first period.
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But his over-aggression cost him on Ivan Miroshnichenko’s back-door bank shot off Josh Anderson to tie the game 2-2 in the first period, and then again on two goals from Alex Tuch that bookmarked one from Justin Holl.
Dobes failed to properly track that shot from Holl.
Yes, it deflected off Canadiens forward Jake Evans’ stick.
But Dobes was correct in not using that as an excuse when reporters caught up with him in the visiting locker room, because he knew that puck was tipped in high ice and barely changed course on its way to the net.
“It doesn’t matter what it is,” Dobes said. “It’s a game of mistakes, a game of every second counts. Unfortunately, I felt pretty good in some situations, but still gave up five goals and the guys scored four, so I just need to save a couple of more for the guys.”
It’s what Dobes did through most of last season.
Even in games that got away from the Canadiens, he always seemed to come up with the extra saves they needed.
It’s because Dobes is a fighter, and that part hasn’t changed.
He’s still battling on every shot, still fighting for every save.
But Dobes is also fighting the puck far too much, struggling to follow up last spring’s heroics — and a near-perfect debut in the opening win of this season in Toronto — with anything resembling what’s expected of him.
“We know what Dobes is capable of,” said Canadiens coach Martin St. Louis, who has no choice but to turn back to Fowler while hoping goaltending coach Marco Marciano can get Dobes back on track.
Because he was off the rails Wednesday, in a game the Canadiens had no business losing.
They controlled 62 per cent of the shot attempts, 67 per cent of the expected goals, and generated 13 high-danger chances at five-on-five. Their penalty kill was staunch, but also unlucky on Kyrou’s goal and undone by Dobes’ overplay on Miroshnichenko’s. And their power play was thwarted only by Capitals goaltender Charlie Lindgren, who made incredible saves before Tuch buried the first of his two goals.
You could tell Dobes was particularly frustrated after that no-look, shorthanded shot beat him clean under his glove.
“It’s my job to be ready,” he said. “It’s just, I feel like I didn’t really get any momentum to the guys, so we were just chasing the game. I feel like I need to be better as a teammate, as a goalie, and it sucks right now.”
There’s plenty of time to turn it around, and Dobes should know that just based on how last season started and ended for him.
Through the first two months of it, he hadn’t done enough to displace Montembeault, who looked eerily similar to how Dobes has through his last three starts. But he then dialed in his game and took over while also fending off Fowler from mid-December onward.
It’s relevant experience to draw from, and Dobes, who only has 82 games under his belt at this level, should be thankful for it.
But he needs to draw from it right now, with the starter’s role slipping from his grasp and Fowler heating up.