BUFFALO, N.Y. (AP) — Canadiens rookie goalie Jakub Dobes is proud he didn’t give up on himself after allowing three goals on the first four Sabres shots he faced. And he’s especially indebted to Montreal coach Martin St. Louis for not yanking him.
A rocky start that wasn’t entirely Dobes’ fault, led to the goalie regaining his form and confidence. He stopped Buffalo's final 32 shots in a 6-3 win on Thursday night that gave Montreal a 3-2 lead in its second-round playoff series.
“I told him thank you for leaving me and trying to prove myself," Dobes said, referring to St. Louis. "That’s a big part, to have (the) trust of your coach, and I will never disrespect it. I appreciate it and the only thing I was trying to do just give some momentum back to the team and try to keep it tight, and it worked out.”
Game 6 is at Montreal on Saturday night.
Whatever struggles Dobes had to open a game in which the Sabres led 3-2 by the 10:15 mark of the first period, the 24-year-old from Czechia reassured his team he had rediscovered his groove.
That was particularly evident some four minutes into the second period in stopping Tage Thompson on a breakaway after the Sabres caught Montreal on a line change. Buffalo’s regular-season scoring leader drove in from the left wing, cut across the crease only to have Dobes stay with him and stop Thompson’s shot with his left pad.
Montreal responded with three goals over the final 12 minutes of the period in building a 5-3 lead.
“It was a huge save,” Canadiens captain Nick Suzuki said. “We never lost confidence in him. Everyone was struggling in that first period. And I just thought that was a big moment for us.”
For Dobes, who went 29-10-4 in his first full NHL regular season, the down-then-up outing was a lesson in not giving in to frustration. The goalie acknowledged he sagged after rookie Konsta Helenius beat him through the legs on Buffalo’s third goal.
“The one lesson I learned from today was just got to have a better body language for the boys — don’t let them know that I’m not feeling maybe my best,” Dobes said, noting he was reminded of that during a first-intermission discussion. Dobes has been Montreal's starter since the playoffs opened, and is now 7-5 in which he's allowed 28 goals.
St. Louis said it was goalie coach Marco Marciano’s decision to not pull Dobes.
“Ultimately, it’s probably my decision right? But I feel like the goalie position is probably the one position that I can help much,” said St. Louis, a former NHL forward. “So I try to stay out of it and not be emotionally driven, and being upset that we’re down.”
St. Louis described the conversation over the radio with Marciano, who was watching from the press box, as being brief.
“He said, 'No, keep him in.’ OK, let’s move on,” St. Louis said.
Forward Juraj Slafkovsky defended Dobes by saying Buffalo’s first goal pinballed in by deflecting off Sabres forward Jason Zucker and then a Montreal defender. And Dobes was screened when Josh Doan beat him to put Buffalo up 2-1.
“We didn’t help him there, but then he came back and he was in a game, and he was once again really good,” said Slafkovsky, who had three assists. “It’s just Marty trusting him. I think it’s huge for confidence of (Dobes). And we all trust him as well.”
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Montreal Canadiens goaltender Jakub Dobes watches the puck in traffic during the first period in Game 5 of a second-round NHL hockey Stanley Cup playoff series against the Buffalo Sabres, Thursday, May 14, 2026, in Buffalo, N.Y. (AP Photo/Jeffrey T. Barnes)
Montreal Canadiens goaltender Jakub Dobes (75) and left wing Juraj Slafkovský (20) celebrate victory following the third period in Game 5 of a second-round NHL hockey Stanley Cup playoff series against the Buffalo Sabres, Thursday, May 14, 2026, in Buffalo, N.Y. (AP Photo/Jeffrey T. Barnes)
Montreal Canadiens goaltender Jakub Dobes makes a save during the third period in Game 5 of a second-round NHL hockey Stanley Cup playoff series against the Buffalo Sabres, Thursday, May 14, 2026, in Buffalo, N.Y. (AP Photo/Jeffrey T. Barnes)
KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said Friday that a Russian missile attack on a Kyiv apartment building the previous day killed 24 people, including what local officials said were three teenagers.
Emergency workers finished digging through the building’s rubble after more than a day, Zelenskyy said on X.
The cruise missile hit the nine-story corner block during what the Ukrainian air force said was Russia’s biggest barrage of the country since its all-out invasion.
The assault mostly targeted the Ukrainian capital, where 48 people were wounded, including two children, Zelenskyy said.
Russia hammered Ukraine with large-scale aerial attacks in the days following a May 9-11 ceasefire that U.S. President Donald Trump said he asked Zelenskyy and Russian President Vladimir Putin to observe. Fighting went on over those 72 hours, although reportedly on a lesser scale.
This week’s attacks ran counter to recent suggestions from Trump and Putin that the war, now in its fifth year, is close to ending.
Zelenskyy said Thursday that Moscow had launched more than 1,560 drones against Ukrainian population centers since Wednesday. In all, some 180 sites across the country were damaged, including more than 50 residential buildings, he said.
Previously, the biggest Russian drone attack was from the evening of March 23 to the evening of March 24 when Moscow’s forces fired nearly 1,000 drones and missiles at Ukraine.
Ukraine has also built up significant long-range capabilities, and Russia’s Defense Ministry said Friday that air defenses downed 355 drones overnight in one of the largest Ukrainian drone attacks of the war.
Several airports suspended flights overnight because of the attacks.
Also, a Ukrainian drone attack on Ryazan, about 100 kilometers (60 miles) southeast of Moscow, killed four people, including a child, Ryazan Gov. Pavel Malkov said.
After the attack, massive plumes of black smoke spewed from a fire at a local oil refinery. Ukraine has targeted Russian oil facilities in an effort to deny vital export revenue for Moscow and rattle the Kremlin.
Ukrainian officials made no immediate comment about the Ryazan strike.
The Ukrainian capital observed an official day of mourning Friday in remembrance of those killed Thursday, and Zelenskyy visited the site.
The cruise missile that hit the apartment building was built in the second quarter of this year, Zelenskyy said, apparently after Ukrainian experts analyzed the wreckage.
“This means Russia is still importing the components, resources and equipment necessary for missile production in circumvention of global sanctions,” Zelenskyy said in another post on X late Thursday.
“Stopping Russia’s sanctions evasion schemes must be a genuine priority for all our partners,” he said.
Russia and Ukraine have continued to occasionally swap prisoners of war, and 205 from each country returned home Friday.
Zelenskyy said it was the first phase of a planned 1,000-for-1,000 prisoner swap. Some of the Ukrainians released had been held in Russian captivity since 2022, he said, and had fought in some of the war’s fiercest battles.
Russia’s Defense Ministry confirmed the exchange and thanked the United Arab Emirates for helping broker it.
Hatton reported from Lisbon, Portugal.
Follow the AP’s coverage of the war in Ukraine at https://apnews.com/hub/russia-ukraine
A woman lays flowers in front of a house heavily damaged after a Russian strike on residential neighbourhood in Kyiv, Ukraine, on Friday, May 15, 2026. (AP Photo/Evgeniy Maloletka)
Rescue workers stand in the yard of an apartment building heavily damaged after a Russian strike on residential neighbourhood in Kyiv, Ukraine, on Friday, May 15, 2026. (AP Photo/Evgeniy Maloletka)
Ukraine's Prime Minister Yuliia Svyrydenko, left, and Ukraine's Interior Minister Ihor Klymenko, right, walk in the yard of an apartment building heavily damaged after a Russian strike on residential neighbourhood in Kyiv, Ukraine, on Friday, May 15, 2026. (AP Photo/Evgeniy Maloletka)
Soldiers from Ukraine's Khartia brigade fire a canon towards Russian army positions near Kharkiv, Ukraine, Thursday, May 14, 2026. (AP Photo/Andrii Marienko)
Soldiers from Ukraine's Khartia brigade fire a canon towards Russian army positions near Kharkiv, Ukraine, Thursday, May 14, 2026. (AP Photo/Andrii Marienko)
Apartment interiors are seen in a damaged residential house following Russian missile attack in Kyiv, Ukraine, Thursday, May 14, 2026. (AP Photo/Efrem Lukatsky)
Rescue workers clear the rubble of a house heavily damaged after a Russian strike on a residential neighborhood in Kyiv, Ukraine, on Thursday, May 14, 2026. (AP Photo/Evgeniy Maloletka)
