MONTREAL — When Martin St. Louis put the puck back into Jacob Fowler’s glove Saturday, it was more than just a vote of confidence for the 21-year-old goaltender.
It was a message to 25-year-old Jakub Dobes, who was great in a 3-2 Canadiens win on opening night in Toronto but not nearly good enough in back-to-back losses to Pittsburgh and Carolina that immediately followed.
It was a message to the whole team, really: You want to play? Play better.
Fowler did in a 5-2 loss to the Nashville Predators Thursday.
Sure, he was in the net for three goals against, and he only made 15 saves. But Fowler played well. Much better than Dobes did in those losses to the Penguins and Hurricanes, over which he was beaten 11 times. And he was rewarded for it against the Red Wings Saturday.
Fowler’s response was a 30-save shutout through regulation and overtime. And when he stopped all six Red Wings shooters, he became the first goalie in Canadiens history to not allow a goal in regulation, overtime or the shootout in a single game.
“He proved to us we made a good decision,” said St. Louis. “I found he played an excellent game, gave us a chance. And in the shootout, it’s not easy. It was long before we scored and gave him an opportunity to close it out, and he did his job.”
St. Louis did his, bolstering Fowler’s confidence while pushing buttons on Dobes and the rest of his players through a tougher start to the season than expected.
They were loose and careless to turn a one-goal lead into a four-goal deficit before clawing their way to overtime in Pittsburgh last Saturday. The message to simplify things—especially in the second period, when the distance to the bench is longer and quick changes are only facilitated by smart, precise play—was sent after they lost, and it was reinforced during video sessions and practice that followed.
But it ultimately wasn’t heeded in the loss to the Hurricanes Tuesday.
So St. Louis pressed further that night, saying the Canadiens had to manage the puck better and win their battles.
Wednesday’s practice focused on that.
Thursday morning’s media availability, following an optional morning skate, reflected that focus when we asked the coach how Noah Dobson could balance his strengths of calmness and poise with the intensity a top-pairing defenceman also needs to play with.
“I think the compete level’s gotta be the bare minimum for everybody,” St. Louis said. “What they can do under pressure, some guys have calmness to it. It’s all different what they can do. But for me, the compete level has got to be the bare minimum that you have to bring. And I feel like we’re at our best when the compete level is high. And I feel individually, it’s the same.”
Another message sent, and Dobson received it.
He brought his competitiveness up several levels in the loss to the Predators, and also in the win over the Red Wings.
Dobson wasn’t the only one. Almost all the Canadiens competed much harder, and they collectively managed the puck well enough to control well over 60 per cent of the shot attempts, high-danger chances and expected goals at five-on-five in both games.
Kirby Dach played the first one on the fourth line, where he had essentially finished the Carolina game after starting it poorly on the second alongside Alex Newhook and Juraj Slafkovsky. He played just 7:42 against Nashville and probably wouldn’t have played at all against Detroit had Florian Xhekaj been healthy enough to go.
But Xhekaj will be back soon, and Dach is on notice.
The depth defenders of the Canadiens are on notice, too, especially after general manager Kent Hughes placed them there by trading Jayden Struble Friday.
Struble sat out Thursday’s game because he didn’t play well enough to keep his spot over Adam Engstrom, who’d been waiting to make his season debut since the puck dropped in Toronto. He was moved because Hughes was able to redeem a second-round pick for the 25-year-old who hadn’t found a way to cement his place in the lineup since being taken in the second round of the 2019 draft, but also because, with Kaiden Guhle returning to health, he had become the eighth-best option on the Canadiens’ blue line.
Engstrom and Arber Xhekaj are now in a fight to be No. 6 for the foreseeable future, and whichever one of them is playing better is going to play. And they’ll both have to play well enough to stave off David Reinbacher, who’s currently playing big minutes with the Laval Rocket.
That’s where Fowler started his season, and now he’s fighting to not only stay with the Canadiens but also take more time away from Dobes in their net.
Now it’s time to see how Dobes responds. With back-to-back games coming this week — against Buffalo Tuesday and in Washington Wednesday — he’ll get an immediate chance, making his battle with Fowler that much more compelling.
It’ll take on another dimension when Samuel Montembeault returns in a week-and-a-half from the injury that paused his journey towards redemption, and that’s anything but a problem.
That competition is a driving force, and it’s heating up all over the Canadiens’ lineup, which you’d hope gets them rolling the way they expect to roll.
That competition was stoked in net by the coach, and on defence by the general manager, and it’s about to get fiercer up front when Oliver Kapanen is finally ready to return from a lower-body injury.
Ivan Demidov shedding his walking boot and coming back at some point over the next three weeks is only going to intensify things and push St. Louis and Hughes into some difficult decisions.
But they both showed over the past week they’re prepared for them, and that they won’t hesitate to push whatever buttons they must to keep the Canadiens on their toes.
3:36
