{"id":915428,"date":"2026-09-30T14:54:13","date_gmt":"2026-09-30T14:54:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/915428\/"},"modified":"2026-09-30T14:54:13","modified_gmt":"2026-09-30T14:54:13","slug":"hidden-game-jakub-dobes-holds-the-fort-as-canadiens-edge-maple-leafs-in-season-opener","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/915428\/","title":{"rendered":"Hidden Game: Jakub Dobes holds the fort as Canadiens edge Maple Leafs in season opener"},"content":{"rendered":"

If regular-season hockey in September seems somewhat unusual, get used to it.<\/p>\n

This could well be the tradition after the NHL increased its schedule to 84 games.<\/p>\n

The Canadiens launched their schedule Tuesday night with a hard-fought 3-2 victory over the Toronto Maple Leafs at Scotiabank Arena. Considering it was an Original Six matchup featuring two Atlantic Division teams, we were surprised by the lack of intensity at times.<\/p>\n

On the other hand, with Montreal having played only five exhibition games \u2014 all but one involving split squads \u2014 the suckers from the centre of the universe who paid hundreds of dollars to watch this contest \u2026 well, they deserved what they got. That is, except for the guy sitting directly behind the Canadiens\u2019 bench who was wearing an Auston Matthews jersey and was seen drinking red wine. We only hope, for his sake, the libation didn\u2019t come out of a box.<\/p>\n

And with that, we bring you a new season of Hidden Game.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n

News you need (Part I): The game marked the 24th time in the history of these storied franchises \u2014 and the seventh consecutive season \u2014 the Canadiens and Leafs raised the curtain for the opening game. In Gary Bettman\u2019s skewed world, some things just seem right.<\/p>\n

News you need (Part II): It marked the first time in 11 home openers Toronto has lost under the captaincy of Matthews. The Leafs had been 11-0-1 in home openers against Montreal.<\/p>\n

News you need (Part III): Of the 12 Toronto forwards who played in last season\u2019s opener against the Canadiens, only four remain: Matthews, John Tavares, William Nylander and the injured Dakota Joshua. This is the fallout after a team finishes 28th overall in the NHL.<\/p>\n

Heated rivalry: Only eight minor penalties \u2014 four against the visitors \u2014 were assessed. At times, watching paint dry would have been more stimulating.<\/p>\n

This is how a goalie wants to start a season: Jakub Dobes<\/a> stopped the first shot he faced, from Jack Roslovic, only 13 seconds in.<\/p>\n

This is not how a goalie wants to start a season: The second shot Dobes faced, from Nylander only 35 seconds later, beat him high to the glove side.<\/p>\n

How not to backcheck (Part I): Nylander turned Nick Suzuki inside out at the Montreal blue line.<\/p>\n

In honour of the MLB playoffs starting: Josh Anderson<\/a> scored the Canadiens\u2019 opening goal, batting the puck out of mid-air.<\/p>\n

Of course, we all could have predicted it: Yes, that was the much-maligned Kirby Dach<\/a> who started the play that resulted in Anderson\u2019s goal.<\/p>\n

\"ZacharyZachary Bolduc of the Canadiens celebrates his second-period goal against the Maple Leafs at Scotiabank Arena in Toronto on Tuesday. Chris Tanouye \/ Getty Images<\/p>\n

Diplomatic immunity: Arber Xhekaj<\/a> has never been shy about hammering opposing players. However, we couldn\u2019t help but notice he decided not to drill 2026 first overall draft choice Gavin McKenna in the final minute of the opening period.<\/p>\n

News you need (Part IV): Anderson had three of the Canadiens\u2019 10 first-period shots.<\/p>\n

Pass of the night (Part I): Mike Matheson to Zachary Bolduc on the Canadiens\u2019 second goal. It was a pretty solo effort by the Montreal defenceman.<\/p>\n

Let\u2019s not get carried away: While it was nice to see Bolduc score in the first game, don\u2019t forget that he produced three goals in Montreal\u2019s season-opening three-game road trip last season \u2014 and ended the year with an underwhelming 12.<\/p>\n

We\u2019ve seen this movie before (Part I): Bolduc\u2019s goal, at 4:52 of the second period, came on the Canadiens\u2019 13th shot. They didn\u2019t get their 14th for another 7:01.<\/p>\n

Shots are overrated: Montreal outshot Toronto 8-6 in the period.<\/p>\n

We\u2019ve seen this movie before (Part II): The Canadiens\u2019 26 comeback victories last season tied for first in the NHL. They had five more in the playoffs.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s a game of inches (Part I): In the ninth minute of the second period, Lane Hutson\u2019s shot hit the crossbar.<\/p>\n

Sometimes it\u2019s the little plays that make all the difference: Noah Dobson, who has become quite adept at blocking shots, blocked Kirill Marchenko\u2019s cross-ice pass late in the second period while Cole Caufield was penalized.<\/p>\n

Great moments in officiating: While Caufield was off, Matheson got away with one. He appeared to trip Marchenko. No penalty was assessed.<\/p>\n

Best chipped front tooth in the NHL: Marchenko.<\/p>\n

\"SergeiSergei Bobrovsky of the Maple Leafs looks on during the third period against the Canadiens at Scotiabank Arena in Toronto on Tuesday. Chris Tanouye \/ Getty Images<\/p>\n

Hit of the night: Jayden Struble\u2019s shoulder on Nick Paul against the side boards during the third period.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s a game of inches (Part II): In the eighth minute of the period, while the Canadiens were on the power play, Juraj Slafkovsky<\/a> hit a post.<\/p>\n

Dumb penalty: Interference on Alexandre Texier. He decided to impede Paul away from the play during the third period.<\/p>\n

How not to backcheck (Part II): Dach failed to check Nylander on the Leafs\u2019 second goal.<\/p>\n

Pass of the night (Part II): Easton Cowan to Nylander.<\/p>\n

Sieve of the night: Sergei Bobrovsky, who\u2019s supposed to be the answer to Toronto\u2019s long-standing goaltending issues, had a save percentage of .875. The two-time Stanley Cup champion and two-time V\u00e9zina Trophy winner had an .877 save percentage last season with Florida.<\/p>\n

This guy ain\u2019t no sieve: Dobes\u2019s save percentage was .929.<\/p>\n

\t\tEditor\u2019s Picks\t<\/p>\n

Next time, decline the penalty: The Leafs were 0-for-3 on the power play.<\/p>\n

Quick stats: Caufield, Anderson, Matheson and Alexandre Carrier, who scored the winning goal, each had three shots on net. Anderson also had four hits. Suzuki and Dobson each were guilty of three giveaways. Matheson played 25:07. Dach played 11:07 \u2014 three seconds more than Bolduc. The Canadiens won 60.4 per cent of their faceoffs and outhit Toronto 28-23.<\/p>\n

They said it: \u201cI thought we were connected all over the ice and got rewarded tonight,\u201d Anderson told the media in Toronto. \u201cPlaying in front of family and friends, and obviously being from here, I always have these (Toronto) games circled on the calendar. It\u2019s not hard to come out here and compete when it\u2019s the first game of the year. I\u2019m glad it went our way.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWe got down early,\u201d Dobes said. \u201cI was just focusing on making the key saves to give energy to the guys. I\u2019m proud of it. I felt pretty good. I felt like I was ready. I feel like we played a pretty good 60 (minutes) and were pretty successful. I saw that a lot of people had a lot of opinions about me. I just wanted to prove that I\u2019m ready.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cHe (Dobes) was excellent,\u201d Canadiens head coach Martin St. Louis said. \u201cHe made some really big saves for us, especially early on. I felt we weren\u2019t playing fast enough. He bought us some time to get going. I\u2019d say the first seven or eight minutes the ice was tilted. We tilted it back.\u201d<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\"Profile<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"If regular-season hockey in September seems somewhat unusual, get used to it. This could well be the tradition…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":915429,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[194292],"tags":[49,48,2338],"class_list":["post-915428","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-montreal","tag-ca","tag-canada","tag-montreal"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/915428","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=915428"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/915428\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/915429"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=915428"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=915428"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=915428"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}