Jacob Fowler pushed to his right, stopped a shot from Jake Neighbours, and then quickly scrambled to his left and sprawled to take a sure goal away from Dylan Holloway.
It was his last save of the night, a 10-beller if we’ve ever seen one, and we’re not even sure it was the best of the 46 he made to preserve a 2-0 shutout for the Montreal Canadiens over the St. Louis Blues.
We can’t say how this game might have turned out with Jakub Dobes in Montreal’s net. In St. Louis, a city in which Dobes spent his teenage years as a USHLer, he might’ve been just as brilliant.
But Martin St. Louis elected not to start Dobes and had to be elated he instead stuck with the hot hand — and not just after watching Fowler stuff Holloway on the doorstep of his crease with 1:12 remaining in a game the 21-year-old had already dominated.
Fowler was the story of Sunday’s Heritage Classic; the big-game goalie shining on the biggest and brightest stage, taking yet another giant leap on his rapid ascent up the NHL ladder and cementing his place as Montreal’s starter. He made 33 saves on 34 Winnipeg Jets shots for his fifth straight win just two nights after stopping 20 of 21 against the Chicago Blackhawks for his fourth.
On Monday, Fowler was named the league’s third star of the week for those performances. On Tuesday, he deserved all three stars against the Blues, even if he twice told reporters in the visitors' room at Enterprise Center he “just got lucky.”
Hogwash.
One shot from Neighbours hit the post early in the game, and that was fortunate for Fowler. But the puck hit him 46 times, and there was nothing lucky about it. He was focused, well positioned, athletic, aggressive when he had to be, and patently calm throughout.
“He’s the most poised goalie I’ve ever seen,” said Florian Xhekaj, who’s seen more of Fowler than most of his Canadiens teammates due to their time spent together with the American Hockey League’s Laval Rocket.
Of course, Xhekaj, who scored his first NHL goal to provide insurance for the Canadiens in the third, is only 22 and hasn’t seen most of the great ones who have suited up for this franchise dripping in goaltending lore.
But having grown up in a household full of Canadiens fans during the 2010s, he watched a good chunk of Carey Price, who said last year Fowler reminds him of himself.
A compliment from a Hall of Famer that could’ve easily gotten to Fowler’s head but clearly hasn’t.
No, his focus seems to be right where it must be — on the puck, which was flying at him all night.
It came at Fowler 32 times in the third period alone, and hit him 24. He made one great save after another over the last seven minutes — six of which were spent with the St. Louis’ net empty and the Blues attacking with six skaters on the ice — and even tried to score a goal at one point.
“It’s insane to watch from the bench. I’m standing up every two seconds he’s making a highlight reel save,” said Xhekaj. “He’s got swagger. He’s going for the empty netter. He’s unreal, so it’s pretty cool to watch.”
The Canadiens watched Fowler more than they’d have liked to have in this game, with coach St. Louis saying afterward, “Overall, I still felt like we bent but we didn’t break.”
“We’ll look at it,” he added, “but we don’t want to be a team that spends that much time in our zone.”
If they must, though — and it’s possible they will have to in Dallas Thursday, at the end of a long-road trip without two of their best players in Nick Suzuki and Ivan Demidov — having Fowler back there should help.
Minutes before stoning Holloway on the last shot, his best save might have been the one he made on Neighbours in the middle of the slot. He also kicked out his left pad on an Adam Jiricek long-range one-timer that whizzed through a maze of bodies for his 38th save, and he gobbled up a rebound from in close on another Neighbours shot when the Canadiens were gasping for air and desperate for a line change after a two-minute, five-on-six fire drill in their end.
Fowler had to be exhausted at that point after seeing so much rubber fly his way. Again, it was 24 shots on net for the Blues in the third.
But he said, “Some nights I’d rather see 24 than see four, so I’m happy the team gave me a chance.”
We’re not sure how they’d turn away from Fowler against the Stars on Thursday.
“It’s a good problem to have,” said St. Louis.
It’s a problem for Dobes, who’s struggled out of the gate, going 1-2-2 with unflattering numbers after putting up the best ones in the league to help the Canadiens power through the end of the season and make it all the way to the Eastern Conference Final.
For Fowler, who started this season in the AHL and has been virtually unbeatable since being recalled to the Canadiens, it’s no problem at all. He’s now 6-1-0, ranked first in the NHL in goals saved above expected (10.1), second in save percentage (.942) and fourth in goals-against average (1.54), and he’s just getting started.
