BUFFALO — Jakub Dobes lunged to corral a loose puck near his crease late in the second period.
As the Canadiens goaltender lay on his stomach fishing for the vulcanized rubber, Sabres forward Zach Benson was taken down in the same crowded area of the ice before nudging his opponent’s glove in a moment of sly gamesmanship.
A massive scrum predictably ensued, with the heart-on-his-sleeve Dobes bounding to his skates, incensed at the sequence.
The combatants would continue to chirp all night — Benson after he scored a few minutes later and Dobes just before the final horn.
The latter got the last laugh.
Dobes stopped 29 shots to help Montreal pick up a 5-1 victory over Buffalo to even the teams’ second-round Stanley Cup playoff series 1-1.
The Sabres, and Benson in particular, were clearly trying to push Dobes off his axis Friday night at KeyBank Center. The fiery 24-year-old netminder didn’t blink.
“I do my stuff,” Dobes said in trying to downplay any shenanigans. “I don’t really focus on what they are saying or anything like that. I didn’t notice anything crazy.”
The Czech’s teammates certainly did.
“It’s him,” Canadiens winger Juraj Slavkovsky said. “When you compete, sometimes you get sucked in and you give a couple, I don’t know, did he hit somebody? Probably, right? But I think that’s good. That gives him confidence.
“We’ve got five guys out there that are going to help him no matter what.”
Dobes, who went through some struggles earlier this season in an unsettled Canadiens’ crease, picked up his fifth victory of these playoffs to go along with a .917 save percentage and a 2.14 goals-against average.
Some puck-stoppers stay out of the fray and in their own mental zone. Dobes goes about the craft his own way.
“That’s his character, right?” Montreal defenceman Alexandre Carrier said. “He loves chatting … one of the only goalies I know that loves doing that. He’s in his zone when he does that. You want him focused. He’s confident right now.
“As long as he stops the puck, I don’t mind him chatting a bit.”
Canadiens captain Nick Suzuki said Dobes likes to get involved at times where others in his position might skate to the corner when gloves are raised and tempers flare near his blue paint.
“An emotional goalie,” Suzuki said. “When he’s at his best, he’s doing that. Made some huge stops for us.”
Dobes went 29-10-4 in the regular season with a .901 save percentage and 2.78 GAA after combining to make 19 appearances as an NHL rookie in 2024-25, including three in Montreal’s 4-1 defeat to the Washington Capitals during last spring’s playoff return after the Original Six franchise went three years without post-season action.
“He brings a lot of energy to our team,” Canadiens defenceman Mike Matheson said of Dobes. “Plays with a lot of confidence … exudes a lot of swagger.”
Montreal will now turn its attention to Sunday as the best-of-seven matchup shifts to what will no doubt be a deafening Bell Centre following a Game 7 road victory over the Tampa Bay Lightning to close out the opening round, and after a pair of hard-fought decisions with the Sabres.
“It’s been a lot of hockey this past week, a lot of meaningful hockey,” Dobes said. “Can’t wait to go back to Montreal. I’m pretty sure our fans will welcome us.
“We’ll be ready to show our best effort.”
BENNY THE PEST
Benson had a pair of first-period assists in Buffalo’s 4-2 victory Wednesday before scoring his team’s only goal in Game 2.
Canadiens defenceman Kaiden Guhle, who also battled the winger when both were in the Western Hockey League, was asked Wednesday morning what makes the Chilliwack, B.C., product so effective.
“He’s a rat,” Guhle said without an ounce of sarcasm. “He battles hard. He’s a good player.”
TIME TO RESET
Sabres centre Tage Thompson still has just two goals in the playoffs, both of which came in Game 1 of the opening round against the Boston Bruins, following an incredibly rough night Friday.
Apart from failing to find the range despite five shot attempts, he also got his wires crossed and tumbled to the ice in the third period to set up Carrier’s 4-1 goal that effectively put proceedings to bed.
“Everything I touched turned into disaster,” Thompson said. “Flush that one, move on.”
This report by The Canadian Press was first published May 9, 2026.
Joshua Clipperton, The Canadian Press
