All signs point to Jakub Dobes playing tonight

The Canadiens are in Calgary tonight looking for their fifth win in their last six games (sixth this season), and now would be a good time to take advantage… because the Flames aren't off to a great start to the campaign.The Alberta outfit has won just one of their seven duels so far… and there are signs that the Habs will be putting their faith in Jakub Dobes against the Flames. I say this because Samuel Montembeault skated this afternoon… as did Kirby Dach and Marc Del Gaizo,so we can also expect Dach to pass.

Samuel Montembeault, Marc Del Gaizo and Kirby Dach are the only participants in the optional practice. @CanadiensMTL @TVASports

– Renaud Lavoie (@renlavoietva) October 22, 2025

Logically, we're likely to see Joshua Roy play his first game of the season. Not a huge surprise… becausewe weren't necessarily expecting Dach to play tonight. But back to the goalies. Because it's interesting… At the moment, Jakub Dobes is doing well. He's won all three of his games this season and his statistics are really, really good. It's hard to blame him for anything in his game

• 3-0-0 record
• Goals-against average of 1.63 (!)
• Efficiency rate of .939 (!)

The Canadiens will surely want to take advantage of their hot streak to give themselves as many chances as possible to pick up two points against a club that's not doing so well. Tomorrow, the Oilers will be on the menu… and the Habs probably want to trust their #1 goaltender, even if Samuel Montembeault isn't off to the greatest start of the season. I can't wait to see what happens, then. Because if Dobes is still smoking tonight and Monty doesn't have a great outing tomorrow, there'll be (even more) talk around town…

'Prolongation'

If Dach doesn't play tonight – which is expected – we might see him in uniform tomorrow. At least, we shouldn't be surprised if that's what happens.