Jacob Fowler as #1 goalie in the playoffs: the idea is gaining traction

Félix Forget
Jacob Fowler as #1 goalie in the playoffs: the idea is gaining traction
Credit: Capture d'écran/Twitter

The last few days haven't exactly been glorious for the Canadiens' goalies. After seeing Jakub Dobes give up six goals to the Sharks on Tuesday night, Samuel Montembeault gave up five to the Ducks last night.

We can talk about talented young teams in both cases, but that's far too many goals.

And now that the trade deadline has passed, the Habs are stuck with what they have. That means if the club wants to make a run in the playoffs, it will have to rely on Monty or Dobes… But in reality, there is another option: going to Laval. And increasingly, the idea of seeing Jacob Fowler called up is gaining traction.

The club will return to Montreal after today's game to face the Maple Leafs at the Bell Centre on Tuesday night: could Fowler be called up then?

We know that Fowler already had a chance to prove himself in the NHL earlier this season, and he didn't necessarily do badly. In 10 starts, he posted a 4-4-2 record, but more importantly, a 2.62 goals-against average and a .902 save percentage.

Things went downhill a bit toward the end, but his 10-game sample size is (by far) superior to the numbers posted by the other two goalies in town. He is the only one with a goals-against average below 3.00 and a save percentage above .900.

That said, there is also another scenario: one in which, should the CH be on track to make the playoffs at the end of the season, it decides to call Fowler back at that point and put him in the #1 spot.

As Marc Antoine Godin explains, this would give him experience… and if the club doesn't have confidence in Montembeault or Dobes, they might as well give the kid a chance.

It should be noted that Fowler recently missed several games due to a virus, but the goalie is back on his feet. He returned to action yesterday and stopped 35 shots in a 4-2 victory for the Rocket.

And we remember that his recall had the effect of calming the storm in the city. We'll see if the Habs want to play that card again before the end of the season… or in the playoffs, quite simply.

One might also wonder if the Habs will want to use another of their wild cards: David Reinbacher. The defenseman has been playing very well for a while now… and with Arber Xhekaj and Jayden Struble unable to win Martin St-Louis' trust, the kid could take the sixth defenseman spot.

The Austrian has six points and a +7 rating in his last 13 periods: he's really on fire.

One might wonder whether, like Fowler, calling him back now would be too risky a gamble, given that the club is playing a series of big games, each more important than the last. But my colleague Tony Patoine made a good point this morning: nothing is stopping the CH from giving the defenseman a little tryout to see what he's made of.

Just in case he's more ready than we think, you know…


In brief

– The Bruins are closing in on the Canadiens in the standings.

— It feels weird.

— Great debut for the Quebec native at the World Baseball Classic.

facebook icon Share twitter icon Tweet linkedin icon Share
Copied!