The reason St-Louis didn't pull Jakub Dobes against the Avalanche has been revealed
Photo credit: Ron Chenoy-Imagn Images
After two excellent games to start the Western road trip, the Montreal Canadiens ran straight into a wall against the Colorado Avalanche last night.
Nathan MacKinnon and Cale Makar's squad, wearing Nordiques-style uniforms, handed the Canadiens a 7-2 beating.
During the game, across social media (and even after the final buzzer), many were wondering why Martin St-Louis was insisting on leaving young Jakub Dobes in the net. Why was he determined to keep his young goaltender in to absorb goals and take a lopsided loss?
We now finally have a solid and logical explanation. It lines up perfectly with what Martin St-Louis said during his postgame press conference, live from Colorado.
Protecting the renewed confidence of goaltender Samuel Montembeault
The Quebec netminder had just regained a serious boost of confidence after an extremely strong performance against the Vegas Golden Knights, so why risk "ruining" that in a game that was already out of reach against the Avalanche?
"I will say it again, I don't understand why Dobeš wasn't pulled after the 2nd. He was finding his confidence with the last 2 wins. You don't want him conceding 8 goals today or 9 or 10!"
- Tony Marinaro
- Tony Marinaro
To which he received this reply:
"Sam Montembeault just got his confidence back, no reason to bring him into a 5-1 losing game against the best team in the league."
- HabsOnReddit
- HabsOnReddit
During the game, I had the same reaction as Tony regarding Dobes and the need for a goalie change, but I admit this explanation makes perfect sense.
In the end, Dobes allowed 7 goals on 36 shots.
Previously on Montreal Hockey Fanatics
| POLL | ||
NOVEMBRE 30 | 1234 ANSWERS The reason St-Louis didn't pull Jakub Dobes against the Avalanche has been revealed Do you believe Martin St-Louis should have pulled Jakub Dobes from the game yesterday in Colorado? | ||
| Yes | 491 | 39.8 % |
| No | 743 | 60.2 % |
| List of polls | ||