No, Cayden Primeau would never have won that match.

This afternoon, the big story with the Canadiens was Jakub Dobes. The goalie, making his NHL debut, had the heavy task of facing the Florida Panthers in his first appearance in the show.

With Cayden Primeau no longer in the organization’s good graces (and officially placed on waivers at 2 PM), the task of backing up Samuel Montembeault (at least in the short term) fell to Dobes.

And how did Dobes respond in his first test? With nothing less than a shutout, making 34 saves against the reigning champions.

Jakub Dobes gets his first NHL shutout in his NHL debut vs. the defending champs

What a day for the kid pic.twitter.com/2dKAjZiGeh

— B/R Open Ice (@BR_OpenIce) December 28, 2024

Of course, we must be cautious before thinking he is already the savior. It was a very encouraging start for Dobes, but we shouldn’t fall into the Ryan Poehling syndrome either.

That said, for the occasion, let’s be positive: the young goalie looked like a confident guy in front of his net, something the Canadiens have not often obtained from their backup goalie this season.

At the very least, we can agree on one thing: Dobes has today won a game that Cayden Primeau would never have won. And that’s exactly what the team needs from its backup goalie.

However, even though Dobes is the story of the day, there are other aspects of the game that intrigued me. Here’s what I take away from this 4-0 victory over the Panthers:

1. Dobes has proven to be a valuable acquisition, but what we notice is that the three guys who joined the Canadiens in December have all improved the team. Patrik Laine is scoring goals in abundance on the power play, Alexandre Carrier is the stabilizing presence the team’s blue line needed, and Dobes gives confidence to the guys in front of him.

This means that suddenly, the team is winning more and more games.

With Jakub Dobes’ performance against the Panthers, Benoît assures us that it makes all the difference in the world in a locker room when a goalie GETS the job done! pic.twitter.com/pWz4I9vD1R

— L’Antichambre (@Antichambre) December 28, 2024

2. Jake Evans has now scored a goal in each of his last four games. Once again today, he hit the target with a beautiful goal.

He is having an exceptional season… and as he will become a free agent in a few months, he is playing like a guy who is going to land a nice lucrative contract.

Short-handed goal for Montreal!

Scored by Jake Evans with 02:41 remaining in the 2nd period.

Florida: 0
Montreal: 3#MTLvsFLA #TimeToHunt #GoHabsGo pic.twitter.com/iW6ZKeJrZT

— NHL Goals (@nhl_goal_bot) December 28, 2024

3. Kirby Dach and Alex Newhook really needed a game like today’s. Seeing the former score two goals and the latter get his first two assists of the season will do them good.

If they can build on that and have a strong finish to the season, CH wouldn’t say no.

4. By defeating the Panthers today, CH secured its fourth victory of the season against a team on track for the playoffs.

To be in the famous mix, that is something that will need to improve.

This victory is the fourth for the @CanadiensMTL against a playoff team since the start of the season. @TVASports

— Renaud Lavoie (@renlavoietva) December 28, 2024

A victory that will do wonders for the team and demonstrates that this new version of the Canadiens can win games against top teams, even when Samuel Montembeault rests.

I look forward to seeing what it will yield tomorrow against the Lightning.

In a nutshell
– Jakub Dobes felt at home at the Bell Centre.

“It was crazy! We felt at home with the OLÉ OLÉ at the end”
-Jakub Dobes pic.twitter.com/sB1rbw3Fcz

— RDS (@RDSca) December 28, 2024

– Nice moment at Place Bell.

We are proud! The whole crew!
So proud@Lil_Doby44 pic.twitter.com/R7YxoHmDEK

— Rocket de Laval (@RocketLaval) December 28, 2024

– Interesting.

All forwards on CH played 16, 17, or 18 shifts today.

Only 2m45 separate the ice time of the most used forward from the least used forward today. #Balance

— Maxime Truman (@MaximeTruman) December 28, 2024

– He was due.