Dobes vs. – Dobes’ stretch-and-elevation style is a threat for momentum-changing saves, but screens, low shots, and quick transition plays are shaping the Eastern Conference Final matchup. In the postseason so far, traffic has played a role in nine goals, and Dobes’ posit
The moment Dobes appears out of it, that’s often when the save becomes possible.
Down below the hash marks. where second chances and cross-ice passes can sneak in through tight lanes. his athleticism and long limbs create openings for momentum-changing stops. Against the Lightning, there were several chances built on second plays that gave him a chance to attack quickly. Against the Sabres. it showed up on cross-ice looks off the rush. including a fully extended robbery against Tage Thompson in Game 7.
The idea isn’t just “make the stop.” It’s whether those chances rise high enough for him to turn his flexibility into vertical coverage. Even when Dobes looks stretched and briefly late. getting chances above the pad matters—regular season results already hinted at that. with nine goals off broken plays and bounces that still required elevation. His “Gumby-like” flexibility helps him build that height with his hands reaching over the pads even while he’s extended. which makes the top half of the net feel like the safer territory.
Still, this is hockey, and screens don’t ask permission.
Dobes excelled against screens during the regular season. using his size with a tall. narrow stance to see over traffic rather than searching around it from a lower posture. But the Lightning scored three screened goals, and the Sabres added six in the second round. That puts traffic’s footprint at nine postseason goals so far, or 25 percent—well above the 15.1 percent regular-season average. The danger for Dobes comes when he gets caught in transition: moving from that high stance into his lower-save stance on quick shots and one-timers.
For Buffalo, a large part of three screen goals hinged on where shots were arriving. It wasn’t only the screen itself—it was getting him into shooting areas below the top of the circles, forcing him to pick a side by looking around traffic before the shot went to the other side of that obstruction.
His vulnerability isn’t limited to screens.
Against the grain, shots fired into the flow of play in the regular season accounted for 20 percent of goals. Those chances often came clean. and Dobes’ tendency to reach and push at low shots in a way that pulls his torso away from the puck has played a role in those situations. In the first round. there were five against-the-grain goals. and in the second round. five more—again including sequences that were shaped less by him facing “clean shots” and more by plays that forced him to move back and forth. Still, the pattern is clear: the puck doesn’t always wait for him to square up.
Then there’s the down-low, east-west fight.
Dobes has quieted the earlier east-west positional aggression that could leave him stranded outside his posts laterally. But Tampa Bay found a few such looks in the first round through wide net drive and shots off the end boards. Across both rounds, eight of 10 goals off passes across the middle of the ice came below the hash marks. Plays and shots from behind the net and below the face-off circles were also a factor in 20 percent of regular-season goals. close to the 18.4 percent average.
The postseason numbers sharpen that picture: five of 15 in the first round and five of 21 in the second round—27.8 percent combined—came from those behind-the-net and below-the-face-off-circle areas. Even when the passes were well made. the quick-turn nature of hockey showed up: the Lightning twice caught him with quick passes the other way as he shifted down into his post play coverage.
And even off great lateral passes, there’s a common lesson in the opponent’s attack plan. Shots can be the edge of the conversation, not just the entry ticket—if the play doesn’t finish with attempts to the edges of the net, Dobes’ length and compete give him a chance at that momentum-changing save.
Put together, the matchup pressure has a shape: traffic and shot location are testing the mechanics of how he sees and how he sets, while quick shifts between stances are turning split-second decisions into the difference between being in position and being stretched.
Dobes Andersen Eastern Conference Final NHL goalie matchup Lightning Sabres Tage Thompson Game 7 screens hash marks east-west coverage