Canadiens’ first-round series could be decided by backup goaltenders

MONTREAL — We’re a little over 24 hours from Game 4 between the Montreal Canadiens and Washington Capitals and neither goaltender that started this series appears likely to be in their respective Bell Centre crease for it.

Both coaches said on Saturday that they were still waiting for updates on the condition of their goaltenders after both left Friday’s Game 3 with apparent injuries, and both expressed confidence in the expected replacements for Game 4.

For the Canadiens, Jakub Dobes would be subbing in for Samuel Montembeault, and they don’t seem at all concerned about this being just the 17^th game he’s appeared in at this level.

Perhaps it helps that Dobes played nearly half of Game 3, turning aside seven of eight shots from the Capitals and allowing a goal he had no chance of stopping from Alex Ovechkin. 

They believe it definitely helps that the 23-year-old started his NHL career earlier this season by rattling off five consecutive wins against the Florida Panthers, Colorado Avalanche, the Dallas Stars, the New York Rangers and the Capitals.

“I think his first game, he gets thrown in against the defending Stanley Cup champs, gets a shutout,” said Canadiens defenceman Kaiden Guhle. “I think his first three or four games, I think they were all some of the top teams in the league, and he played well. So, I have all the confidence in the world in Dobes. 

“He’s got a lot of confidence in himself, which you need as a young goalie coming into the league. I think he believes that there’s no moment too big for him. I think he wants this moment. I think he’s ready for anything that’s thrown at him.”

The Ostrava, Czechia native was thrown a knuckleball when Montembeault approached the bench early in the second period of Game 3 and appeared to signal to him to go warm up. 

Moments later, Dobes was dropped into the wildest atmosphere he’s ever been in and, after emerging victorious, said no one could imagine what he was feeling.

“I was afraid, for sure, but I was excited,” Dobes said. “Also, I was emotional. I was crying at the end, so it’s like I was a mess.”

The six-foot-four goaltender didn’t appear overwhelmed by the moment, though, and he certainly doesn’t seem rattled by the one that’s likely in front of him.

“I know my routine. I know I’m a good goalie. I love these moments more than anything,” Dobes said. “I guess I was prepared, and I will prepare again, and we’ll see what happens on Sunday.”

What’s likely to happen is former Canadien Charlie Lindgren starting opposite Dobes after Logan Thompson wobbled out of Game 3 unable to put much pressure on his left leg after teammate Dylan Strome crashed into him in the 54^th minute of play while trying — and ultimately failing — to prevent Juraj Slafkovsky’s back-breaking goal.

“Never a good feeling when you hit your goalie, or you run into your goalie, or you hurt your teammate — whether it’s with a shot or whatever,” Strome said on Saturday. “But hopefully he’s alright. I know he’s a tough guy, so hopefully he’s good. Just an unfortunate break, but you don’t want to see that.”

Lindgren saw it and only had seconds to feel bad for his partner.

He played the final 6:37 and, despite allowing a goal on one of five shots he faced, took valuable experience from it ahead of probably being put in a spot to potentially backstop the Capitals to a 3-1 series lead going back to Washington.

“I think just getting a taste yesterday a little bit, feeling that environment was important,” said Lindgren, who made 24 regular-season appearances for the Canadiens from 2016 through 2020 but never played a playoff game at the Bell Centre. 

“You want to know what you’re getting into,” Lindgren continued. “Coming to Montreal, you had a pretty good idea of what you were going to get, and (the fans) didn’t disappoint. 

“Last year I got a taste playing at Madison Square Garden, what that was like. Bell Centre’s probably another level of that.”

Last year, Lindgren allowed 14 goals and lost all four games he played against the New York Rangers in the playoffs. 

Eight of those goals came at MSG, but so did some valuable experience he said he learned a lot from.

Lindgren added he’s relishing the opportunity that’s in front of him.

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“You think about 10-year-old Charlie, what he would do to be in a situation like this,” the 31-year-old from Lakeville, Minn., said. “It’s a really cool place to be in and I definitely don’t take it for granted.”

Lindgren has appeared in 40 games this season. In his 39 during the regular season, he went 38-20-14, posting an .896 save percentage after running a .911 through 50 appearances last season and becoming one of nine goaltenders to garner at least one top-three vote for the Vezina Trophy.

“We know Chucky Lindgren, and he’s done a great job and he’s a great goaltender, so there’s no concern from our group having a let down or from our staff having a lack of confidence,” Capitals coach Spencer Carbery said. “We’ve got two great guys.”

Still, the chances of seeing Thompson, who stopped 88 of the 96 shots he faced through Games 1, 2 and 3 seem slim.

Montembeault, who stopped 69 of the 76 shots he’s faced in the series, also feels like a longshot.

Canadiens coach Martin St. Louis didn’t rule him out of Game 4 just yet, but he was talking as though Dobes would have the assignment.

Dobes put up a .909 save percentage this season. And though he may have followed up those first five wins with five losses over his next six games, he came up huge in allowing only two goals over his last two starts — a 37-save win over the Nashville Predators and a 35-save performance in a 1-0 overtime loss to the Toronto Maple Leafs.

“I think he knows what he did this year for us,” said St. Louis. “He came in and had a great start. Then he went through a tougher stretch for a young goaltender but finished strong. The last two games he played, when you think about them, we needed those points, and he played and gave us good performances.  We know he’s capable of doing that. And we have to play well enough in front of him to not force him to steal us a game. But we know he can do that, too. I think he’ll be ready for no matter what and we’ll try to help him.”

Key Quotes

Carbery on momentum swing from Game 2 to Game 3:

“Well, last night, it was Minute 1 to basically Minute 60 (for the Canadiens). They executed or got exactly what they wanted. I can slice it in a 100 different ways and beat up all the things that I went through last night and this morning, but at the end of the day, we didn’t play very well at all.”

Carbery on Bell Centre for Games 3 and 4:

“To not recognize the difficulties of playing in that environment would be naïve and silly of me, and that is something I have to understand is there’s going to be significant challenges to playing on the road in an environment like the Bell Centre, against a hungry team that’s down 2-0 that you know is going to fight with everything they can to prevent from going down 3-0 (in Game 3). Understanding that is important from in my shoes, and now we have to work our way through that and find ways to combat that. Part of that I put on myself is finding the structure, the Xs and Os, the tactical part of how can I help us work through the anxiousness, the crowd noise, the not having last change and all the things that go into playing in a difficult environment? And the other part is trying to make our players feel as confident as possible, as normal as possible to be able to be successful in a difficult environment.”

St. Louis on what he expects for Game 4:

“I know the Capitals are going to be much better tomorrow. It’s one of the best teams in the league and I know they’ll respond. We’re going to have to be ready for that response at the start.”

St. Louis on excelling at picking apart one opponent over a series:

“I feel it’s a part of the game that I really like. I did it as a player — trying to find holes in other teams’ schemes, Xs and Os — and you see if you can raise the percentages of getting success knowing it doesn’t guarantee it. I feel like throughout a playoff round, you have to dive in a little bit and see how they do things. And can you do things better than that and see how they’re trying to expose your stuff as well. To me, I think it’s a big part. But with that said, it’s not the only part. Attitude and mindset too will probably make you win a series as well. And if you have both, you’re a hard team to play against. That’s what we’re striving for.”

Quick hits:

• Aliaksei Protas took part in the Capitals’ optional practice Saturday, participating in contact drills.

Carbery didn’t strike the possibility the six-foot-six, 247-pound forward could make his series debut Sunday.

Protas, who had 30 goals and 66 points in 76 games this season, hasn’t played since suffering a skate laceration to his foot back on April 4.

• Expect the Canadiens to dress Cayden Primeau as a backup to Dobes if Montembeault is ruled out for Game 4.

After a rough start with the Canadiens — going 2-3-1 with an .836 save percentage this season — he went 21-2-2 and put up an league-best 1.96 goals-against average with the AHL’s Laval Rocket.

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