TORONTO — It was with a fraction of a second remaining in the first win of this Montreal Canadiens season that Jakub Dobes yanked John Tavares’ stick from his hands and goaded the Toronto Maple Leafs forward into pushing him.

The puck was out of sight, the game was all but over, but not for the feisty goaltender who made it clear from the start he would battle to the last whistle — and beyond if he had to.

That last gesture was a clear message to Tavares. A rather unnecessary one in the eyes of just about anyone other than Dobes.

The thing is, though, this is what he thrives on.

“We all know he’s a competitor,” said winning goal-scorer Alexandre Carrier, though that doesn’t fully sum up what Dobes is.

He is a defiant competitor, a guy blocking every puck like he’s batting away every barb of criticism that’s ever stung him.

If you were keeping count Tuesday, Dobes blocked 26 pucks — three from Auston Matthews, three of five from William Nylander, four from Kirill Marchenko, and yes, four from Tavares — in this season-opening 3-2 win at Scotiabank Arena.

Then he came out after the game and said, “I........

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