Story lines to Follow After Olympic Break: Goaltending Situation
The Montreal Canadiens wrapped up their final game before a 3-week break in between games on Wednesday with a huge 5-1 victory against the Winnipeg Jets. With that being said, there are storylines to follow coming out of the break; one of those topics is how the Canadiens handle their goaltending situation down the stretch.
Despite the loss, Dobes continues to earn points for the #Habs.
May have wanted one of those goals back tonight, but with 7/8 points since taking the net back… No reason he should be taken out for Montembeault. #GoHabsGo @HabsUnfiltered pic.twitter.com/5eU9HvyAZJ
— Matt Smith (@Snakebite350) February 3, 2026
Over the past 5 games, one thing that has become very clear is that rookie Jakub Dobes is showing that he can be a 1a in a goalie tandem at the very least for the rest of the season, with the possibility of being the main starter. In his last 4 games, Dobes has posted a .912 save percentage and a 2.68 GAA with a 3-0-1 record. The numbers do go down a bit because of Monday’s 4-3 overtime loss, where he allowed 4 goals on 24 shots.
Like every goalie in the NHL, Dobes is not invincible and will have rougher stats in a single game once in a while, but it’s really the fact that he’s getting points for the Habs this season. Over his last 10 starts, he has an 8-0-2 record and has gone 18-5-4 throughout the whole season, which is good for a .769 winning percentage this season.
Montembeault was great last night. Hopefully he can maintain But let’s not forget that without Dobes, the Canadiens are not in a playoff spot. His style is a unconventional but he wins.
— Eric Macramalla (@EricMacramalla) February 5, 2026
It seems like almost every single game that the Canadiens have Dobes in nets, they have a chance to win, even in the case that the netminder is having a tough night. The team as a whole seems to always step up their game when playing in front of Dobes, which is something that should be taken into account when needing to split up the games down the stretch.
While Dobes may seem like the clear number one given Samuel Montembeault’s struggles, the fact that on Wednesday night he had his best performance of the season is possibly a sign that the Habs’ new goaltender coach, Marco Marciano, may be exactly what Montembeault needs to stay on track. Marciano fixed his struggles earlier in the season when he lost all his confidence, and he may be done with it yet again. This is something that needs to be watched closely to see if Wednesday was a one-off in what has been a tumultuous year for Montembeault or if working with Marciano is exactly what he needs to stay on his game.
Montembeault had a beautiful comeback game tonight. Stopping 36 of 37 SOG, many which were outstanding scoring opportunities, he carried the #Habs with a .973 SV% and a 1.00 GAA earning him First Star of the game. 🚫🚨🏒🥅 #BBBR #Canadiens #Montréal #NHL06 #GoHabsGo pic.twitter.com/3NovJ6p3po
— BleedBleuBlancRouge (@BleedBBR) February 5, 2026
Coming out of the break, we should see both goaltenders within the first couple of games, and that’s how we will truly see how the games may get divided down the stretch. Either way, the Canadiens will need a backup goalie that can successfully play at least 6 of the final 25 matchups, as they will have back-to-backs for those games.
With the March 6th trade deadline only being 8 days after the Habs’ first game back on February 26th, they will surely need to make sure that they can go down the stretch with both Dobes and Montembeault as their netminders. This likely means that the two goalies will split the two games in February, and from that they can judge whether or not another goaltender is needed to close out the season in order to make the playoffs.
