All eyes were on the Montreal Canadiens’ crease on Thursday night as Jacob Fowler was making his NHL debut against the Pittsburgh Penguins. The rookie was attempting to follow in some sizeable footsteps as three goaltending greats of the Habs’ past had had their first start there as well: Ken Dryden (a 5-1 win in March 1971), Patrick Roy (a 5-3 win in October 1985) and Carey Price (a 3-2 win in October 2007). The latter reached out to Fowler after hearing he had been called up and told him to go out there and have fun.

The collective effort was also under the microscope after the Tricolore had given a few questionable performances over the last few weeks, prompting GM Kent Hughes to recall not only Fowler, but also Adam Engstrom and Owen Beck.

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The Blueprint Of A Perfect Frame

The Sainte-Flanelle came ready to play and was firing on all cylinders in the first frame, not only offensively speaking, but on the other side of the puck as well. As soon as they lost the puck, Martin St-Louis’ men flipped their internal switch to defence, and their forecheck allowed Alexandre Texier to score the first goal of the game, but also his first as a member of the Canadiens.

On paper, it was an unassisted goal because it came from a Kris Letang turnover, but the Canadiens had done such a good job of trapping the Pens in their zone that the quintet had been on the ice for almost two minutes, and a tired player is prone to mistakes.

After 20 minutes, Montreal had a 1-0 lead and was leading 9-4 in shots on net.

The Man Of The Hour

If Fowler was nervous about making his NHL debut, it didn’t show, not even for a second. The youngster had to wait a long time to receive his first shot as the Habs were playing such a good defensive game, but he was ready when it came. He looked calm and collected in net, wasn’t overplaying the puck and was not wasting any energy with unnecessary movement.

If the first frame was like dipping his toe in the water, the second was like diving in the deep end. After playing a fantastic first, the Canadiens’ collective effort dipped in the second stanza, but Fowler welcomed the challenge with open arms. He faced 16 shots in those 20 minutes, and he saved them all, not once looking panicked or out of his depth.

Even when a hard shot from the blueline was deflected right in front of him, he picked it up like a ripe apple from a tree, effortlessly and calmly. His rebound control, when he gave rebounds, was also impressive. On one play, he made a pad save and sent the puck right to Juraj Slafkovsky, who launched the attack which led to Brendan Gallagher’s goal.

Fowler faced another 15 shots in the final frame and surrendered two goals. One came from in close as Sidney Crosby fed Bryan Rusk with a backhand, and the second was a point shot through heavy traffic on the power play. Lane Hutson came to the rescue in the dying minutes as the Penguins were attacking with an extra skater, but overall, this was as good a debut as Fowler could have hoped. 33 saves on 35 shots for a .943 save percentage.

The American netminder’s family looked on as he claimed his first career win and made what they all had dreamt of for so long a reality. They were initially set to attend a Christmas party tonight, according to the young netminder, but they had to change their plans, something they won’t complain about. As much as the Canadiens tried to downplay his call-up, this performance is sure to excite this fanbase.

As a side note, he faced seven shots from a player who was the best in the world for a long time in Sidney Crosby, and he stopped them all. The youngster wasn’t star-struck or intimidated at all. He has one job to do, and he did it.

After the game, Gallagher said that he thought he was calm in the net, didn’t need to make a lot of movement, and had a good demeanour—three essential qualities for a goaltender that can inspire his teammates.

Secondary Scoring

The Canadiens had struggled to score at even strength of late, but on Thursday night, the bottom-six showed up and had an impact. As previously mentioned, Texier scored the first goal, and Gallagher the second. The veteran has had a tough time this season, and this goal is sure to ease some of the pressure he’s under. Still, the goal was his 241st; he now trails Mats Naslund by only two goals for 14th place in franchise history.

Owen Beck almost had his first career goal, but it was waved off for offside after a coach’s challenge. That would have been some more secondary scoring.

The Right Reaction

If the Canadiens were unable to stop the hemorrhage against the Tampa Bay Lightning on Tuesday night, they didn’t have that problem in Pittsburgh. On the contrary, when the Pens found the back of the net, it took the Canadiens just 15 seconds to regain their three-goal lead when Juraj Slafkovsky set up an Oliver Kapanen goal. That was the rookie’s 10th of the season, meaning he now leads all rookies in goals ex aequo with the Anaheim Ducks’ Beckett Sennecke. Furthermore, he’s now the second-highest goal scorer for the Canadiens; Cole Caufield, with 17 goals, is the only one who has more.

After the game, the Canadiens flew to Newark, where they will enjoy a day off ahead of their Saturday night game against the New York Rangers. Considering the state of the goaltending in Montreal right now, it would make sense to have Fowler in net then as well, but we’ll see what the bench boss decides.

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