Canadiens' Arber Xhekaj revealed that the reason for the bench brawl in the playoffs with the Capitals was due to Jakub Dobes constantly chirping from the bench.
Jakub Dobes learned a hard-earned lesson on his first experience with NHL playoff hockey: if you're going to talk the talk, then you'd better be ready to walk the walk.
The 24-year-old Montreal Canadiens goalie discussed his debut in the 2025 Stanley Cup Playoffs at teammate Alex Newhook's charity golf event, as reported by Bleacher Report.
Arber Xhekaj said that Jakub Dobes was chirping from the bench early in Game 3 of their series against the Washington Capitals, before he was abruptly put under the spotlight after starter Sam Montembeault exited with a groin injury.
'So, Dobey stands by the bench, right close to their bench, and he's looking over and he's chirping every single guy to come off the ice, yelling at them, chirping them, next thing you know our goalie gets hurt and Dobey has to go on the ice,' Xhekaj said gleefully. 'The period's over so the other team has to skate across the ice and Dobey has to skate through all of them. So, nobody left, they just waited for Dobey, because they wanted to have a word with him, and then I got in there and it was just - it was madness.'
Making matters even more egregious, Dobes' on-ice verbal tirade may have helped spark a wildhouse second-intermission fight.
'They were definitely not nice to me the first five minutes,' Dobes said of the treatment he received from the Caps once he took the crease.'I didn't say anything that bad, so I don't understand' he said giggling. 'But I guess it worked out. I stopped chirping in Game 4... I was just being quiet.'
His teammate, Arber Xhekaj, attributed Dobes with being a contributory cause of that night's bench fight, which led to a headlining bout between Tom Wilson and Josh Anderson.
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Dobes never revealed what he said to the Capitals, but he did manage to secure a 6-3 win for Montreal in Game 3.
'It was crazy,' Dobes described of his experience. 'I was probably the most nervous ever. But we won.'
Washington, however, returned the favor and took the series in five games. A 2020 fifth-round draft choice (136th overall), Dobes allowed seven goals in 144 minutes of postseason play.
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