Hockey

Jacob Fowler steals the show and wins his first NHL game
Félix Forget
Jacob Fowler steals the show and wins his first NHL game
Credit: DansLesCoulisses.com

Tonight, the Canadiens were in Pittsburgh to take on the Penguins.

For the occasion, Jacob Fowler played his first career NHL game… and Martin St-Louis stirred the pot with his defensive duos.

Here's what it looked like:

On the Penguins side, Evgeni Malkin was absent due to injury, but the other usual suspects were present.

Here's the home team lineup:

From the very first minutes of the game, you could tell the Habs were in great shape. The club was aggressive… and it quickly paid off.

Alexandre Texier scored his first goal in a Canadiens uniform.

In the minutes that followed, the Penguins took advantage of a power play… except that the save that got everyone talking was Sidney Crosby's.

The Penguins captain was in great pain after receiving a puck on the foot. But he was able to continue.

After 20 minutes, the score was 1-0 in favor of the Habs. And Jacob Fowler only saw four shots go his way.

And in the second period, it was again the Habs who led the charge.

Brendan Gallagher doubled the lead early in the second.

Then, in the minutes that followed, Cole Caufield put his geometry lessons to good use by scoring a goal from a very narrow angle.

He's scored many such goals this year.

Late in the period, the Penguins took advantage of a powerplay… and this time, Fowler was seriously challenged.

But the young man was in complete control of the situation: he made some great saves.

After 40 minutes, the score was 3-0 in favor of the Habs.

That said, early in the third period, the Penguins finally found a way to get the better of Fowler.

Bryan Rust scored his team's first goal.

But just 15 seconds later, the Habs struck back: Oliver Kapanen gave his team a three-goal cushion.

Kapanen's 10th goal of the season.

But once again, the Habs were undisciplined… and it finally caught up with them: the Penguins scored a second goal with minutes left in the third.

It's hard to blame Fowler for this: Erik Karlsson simply unleashed a shot of (very) high quality.

The Penguins pulled their goalie after that, but Fowler and the Habs held on.

The goalie made some big saves to confirm his team's victory… but he can also thank Lane Hutson, hehe.

Final score: 4-2 Montreal

The Canadiens return to action on Saturday night, when they travel to New York to take on the Rangers.


Extension

– Jacob Fowler was really, really good tonight. The young goalie clearly wasn't intimidated by the moment, and that obviously gave his teammates confidence. We'll have to see how it goes against a really good team (the Penguins without Evgeni Malkin aren't exactly a powerhouse), but the kid certainly deserved another start.

– In the second period, Owen Beck came close to scoring his first NHL goal, but the goal was ultimately disallowed due to offside. Too bad for Beck, who nonetheless had a good game tonight.

– Juraj Slafkovský is really turning the corner in his development, and it's even more obvious when he's not on the first line. He's in control on the ice and he's not afraid to create things. This is the Slaf the club wanted to see when they drafted him first overall in 2022.

– A great moment for the Fowler family. And you'd think the goalie's performance would have made them even prouder, hehe.

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