Marc Dumont
The Montreal Canadiens are heading towards the playoffs with two rookie netminders in place, a rather rare occurrence in the NHL.
And though both Jakub Dobes and Jacob Fowler have a lack of NHL experience compared to most goaltending combinations, they’ve shown a very encouraging amount of potential throughout the season, and even more so since the Canadiens hired Marco Marciano to become their goaltending coach on January 28.
Since then, both players have improved their 5v5 save percentages, and by a fairly wide margin, too.
Jakub Dobes Goaltending Stats
As you can see in the table below, Dobes’ save percentage has gone up significantly, but it’s not due to any major defensive shift by the Habs. The Canadiens are forcing Dobes to make more saves than ever, both regular (SV/60) and high-quality saves (HD SV/60).
And yet, Dobes has also improved his high-danger save (HDSV%) percentage considerably, which is enough evidence to suggest that he’s providing the Canadiens with better results than before, while dealing with more shots on a nightly basis.
We do have to keep the sample size in mind, as Dobes featured in 24 games prior to Marciano’s arrival, and just 13 since, but I’d argue it’s more than enough to submit there’s a strong correlation between Marciano’s hiring and Dobes’ uptick in results.
Jacob Fowler Goaltending Statistics
As for the other first-year goalie, he’s improved his save percentage considerably, while facing slightly more shots per game.
Fowler’s high-danger save percentage has gone down slightly, though it should be noted he’s facing an increase of 33% in high-quality scoring chances.
Montreal Canadiens Brass Tacks
It’s very difficult to get a good grasp on which improvements are simply due to the usual ebbs and flows of a hockey season, and which are directly related to Marciano’s handy work, but the numbers suggest that both of Montreal’s first-year goaltenders have benefited from his presence, at least in the short term.
Dobes, for example, has also improved his save percentage on the penalty kill, which started at .812 prior to Marciano’s arrival, and has since risen to .868.
The real test will come once the Canadiens begin their playoff push, but as it stands, the team can be confident that they made the right decision based on all the available data.
All Montreal Canadiens goaltender statistics are 5v5 unless otherwise noted, via Natural Stat Trick.
