The NHL regular season wrapped on Wednesday night.
Unfortunately for hockey fans around central Ohio, the Columbus Blue Jackets fell just short of making the postseason for the first time since the 2019-20 season where the playoffs were held in the bubble. This marks the second straight season where the Blue Jackets were officially eliminated from postseason contention on the night before their final game of the season.
Even though Columbus won’t be a part of this year’s NHL playoffs, there will be a couple
players from Ohio State who will be competing in the NHL postseason. Goaltender Jakub Dobeš of the Montreal Canadiens and defenseman Mason Lohrei of the Boston Bruins will take the ice in the two-month grind to lift Lord Stanley’s Cup which will begin on Saturday and run through June.
Jakub Dobeš – Montreal Canadiens
After starting the season as the second-string goaltender for Montreal, Jakub Dobeš has established himself as the starter for Montreal.
Dobeš enters the postseason having started 42 games for Montreal during the regular season, posting a 29-10-4 record with a 2.78 goals against average. The former Ohio State netminder stopped 90.1 of the shots he has faced this season.
Dobeš is a big reason why the Canadiens were able to rack up 106 points during the regular season. Down the stretch, Dobeš was tough to put pucks past. Before losing his final two starts of the regular season, Dobeš had won his previous seven starts.
The streak was snapped when Columbus was able to score five goals on him in Saturday’s game in Montreal in a game where the Canadiens had already secured a playoff spot. In his final start of the regular season, Montreal was beaten 4-2 at Philadelphia, who had clinched the final playoff spot in the Eastern Conference the night before.
Now Dobeš will face a Tampa Bay team who he started three games against during the regular season. In his first game against the Lightning on Dec. 9 he allowed three goals in 19:50 before he was pulled in a 6-1 loss.
Dobeš fared much better in the other two games, saving 36 shots in a 4-1 win on March 31 at Tampa Bay, followed by a 17-save performance in a 2-1 win at home against the Lightning on April 9. Montreal was 2-2 against Tampa Bay during the regular season.
The former Ohio State goalie at least has a bit of playoff experience to lean on heading into this year’s postseason. Last season against Washington, Dobeš was thrust into action in the middle of the series with the Capitals, appearing in three games.
In his initial playoff run, Dobeš was 1-2 across three games, saving 52 of the 59 shots he faced before Washington was able to end Montreal’s season.
Mason Lohrei – Boston Bruins
The other former Ohio State Buckeye who will be playing in this year’s NHL playoffs is Mason Lohrei. The defenseman for the Boston Bruins appeared in 73 games during the regular season, registering 26 points.
While Lohrei had seven more points in four more games last season, this year he had a career-high seven goals. The biggest improvement for Lohrei came in his plus/minus rating. Last year Lohrei finished the regular season with a -43. This season Lohrei was a +17.
The Bruins will entered the playoffs as the first wild card team in the Eastern Conference, meaning they will be taking on the Buffalo Sabres, who won the Atlantic Division to secure their first playoff berth in 13 years.
Despite the Sabres being one of the hottest teams in hockey over the last few months, Boston will take some confidence into the series since they are 3-1 against Buffalo, including a 4-3 overtime win on March 25th.
Lohrei played in three of the four games against Buffalo this year, but didn’t record any points. In the most recent meeting between the teams, Lohrei uncorked two shots and was a +1 in the game. Lohrei does have 11 games of playoff experience, which all came during the 2024 playoffs.
The Bruins beat Toronto in seven games before falling to eventual Stanley Cup winner Florida in six games. Lohrei netted a goal and was credited with three assists during his initial playoff run.
