Martin St-Louis explains why he made a never-before-seen phone call from the bench in Buffalo
Photo credit: Charles LeClaire-Imagn Images
Jakub Dobes got the net back from head coach Martin St-Louis after the ugliest possible start, and that choice now defines Montreal's Game 6.
The Canadiens were down early in Buffalo after Dobes allowed 3 goals on the first 4 shots he faced.
That is usually the moment when the bench door opens, the backup grabs his mask, and the night changes.
St-Louis didn't go there. He picked up the bench phone, leaned on Trevor Letowski, and got Marco Marciano's read.
The answer was blunt: keep him in. Montreal did, and the Canadiens won 6-3.
That turned a shaky crease moment into a staff-management story, not just a goalie survival story.
St-Louis chose trust over panic
The first post shows St-Louis explaining the chain of command: he admitted the goalie position is the one spot where he doesn't pretend to have every answer.
The second post confirms the same key detail from the rink: Marciano was consulted before Dobes stayed in.
Dobes rewarded that trust with 33 saves on 36 shots, and Montreal left Buffalo with a 3-2 series lead.
That matters more than one win. It tells the locker room that one bad burst won't automatically erase the staff's belief in a young goalie.
Montreal went 48-24-10 in the regular season, so this wasn't a team guessing its way through spring hockey.
But this was still a pressure test. Buffalo had the building, the early goals, and a chance to make St-Louis flinch.
He didn't. He delegated, listened, and stayed with the goalie.
Now Game 6 at the Bell Centre carries a sharper question: not whether Dobes can recover, but whether St-Louis just strengthened his crease by refusing to panic.
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