It was a wild night at the Bell Centre.
The game Sunday was in Tampa, but the Canadiens’ home rink was packed to the rafters for a viewing party, with the faithful clearly hoping to celebrate a victory by their hometown heroes. That celebration did eventually happen, with the Habs winning 2-1 over the Tampa Bay Lightning to take Game 7 and the series.
But, oh my, it didn’t come easily. During the second period, the Canadiens were outshot 12-0, and social media was exploding with folks losing their spit. I admit I might’ve voiced a few complaints. I apologize. But you have to hand it to these fans.
Canadiens fans celebrate Game 7 win at the Bell Centre on Sunday night. John Kenney / Montreal Gazette
They never lost the faith. The olé, olé, olés just kept coming, and they happily did the wave even though their team wasn’t getting the puck anywhere near Tampa goalie Andrei Vasilevskiy. Somehow, those good vibes made it all the way down to Florida, and the Canadiens ended up scoring an improbable goal in the third, with Alex Newhook batting a puck out of the air and off Vasilevskiy’s back and into the net.
On Friday, Canadiens head coach Martin St. Louis said it was destiny that this young team got to play a Game 7, a first for many of the players. Well, it sure felt like destiny that they won this game, with the bleu-blanc-rouge digging deep into its mythical past to create the kind of magic that this team has conjured on so many occasions over the past century.
Fans were comparing rookie goalie Jakub Dobes with Jaroslav Halak, the Slovak netminder who virtually carried the team single-handedly on his shoulders into the conference final in 2010, a run that is now referred to as the Halak Spring. I’d even say his performance in this series was reminiscent of another young goalie, a skinny 20-year-old named Patrick Roy, who was the main reason Montreal won that surprise Cup in 1986.
Ann-Sophie Gironne was walking the corridors of the Bell Centre after the victory, proudly holding up a sign that read, “You’re Simply Dobes.” It was her first time ever at the Bell Centre. And, yes, she is a huge Dobes fan.
Zayan Vil cheers on the Canadiens at a viewing at the Bell Centre in Montreal during Game 7 of the first-round playoff series against the Tampa Bay Lightning, held in Tampa. John Kenney / Montreal Gazette
“I just started watching the Canadiens this year, and Dobes is just such an incredible player,” said Gironne. “Plus his personality. He’s such a tough player. Most of it was Dobes tonight. Dobes definitely put them in Round 2.”
I asked her how excited she was about the Habs winning.
“Ten thousand per cent,” she said. “I don’t want to jinx it. But my hope is right up there. They might win the Stanley Cup.”
Dobes was unreal. He stopped 28 of 29 shots and if your team wins when the shots are 29-9 in favour of the other team, it’s a fair bet that the goalie seeing all the rubber had a good night. The good news is that if he keeps playing like that, tout est possible.
“Dobes saved the day today,” said Yannick Senechal. “He literally kept us in the game. We had a lucky bounce, and that’s it. And I think the sky’s the limit now. They have the momentum. When a team plays together, anything can happen.”
Jeff Jules is dreaming of a Cup. I told him it was a rough game for the good guys and he said, “We got the W, that’s all that matters. We got the win. We might’ve had less shots than the other team, but it’s not the amount of shots, it’s how precise the shots are. ” And, well, he’s right.
“And I believe this year is the year,” said Jules. “We’ve got it. The Cup this year, 2026. We’ve got it. They believe it.”
Marc Coulombe was just as enthused after the game, but admitted he was sweating it out.
“It was full of tension in there before,” said Coulombe. “I didn’t think they’d win the game. They didn’t have energy.”
Montreal Canadiens fans at the Bell Centre celebrate the team’s 2-1 win against the Tampa Bay Lightning in Game 7 of the first round of the Stanley Cup playoffs on Sunday, May 3, 2026. The game was held in Tampa, with the Bell Centre hosting fans for a watch party. John Kenney / Montreal Gazette
But they pulled it out. It was pretty grim for a while there. No shots in a period is the definition of grim. But Dobes was otherworldly, the defence was so solid, and then all it took was a couple of fortuitous bounces, and all of a sudden the Canadiens are in the second round.
It was a great series. Pretty well everyone in hockey agreed it was the best first-round series. The game Friday night, which Tampa won 1-0 in overtime, was one for the ages. But let’s be honest: We wouldn’t be saying that if Tampa had won Sunday.
People were just so happy as they flocked out of the Bell Centre. We have at least a week more of hockey, maybe a lot more. The city needs this. We need this. I don’t want to jinx anything, but maybe we’ll end up calling this the Dobes Spring.
bkelly@postmedia.com
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