Montreal Canadiens goalie Jacob Fowler lost his shutout bid less than a minute into the third period when Bryan Rust brought the Pittsburgh Penguins to within two goals. No matter. Forward Oliver Kapanen notched the go-ahead goal 15 seconds later to nip any potential Pens comeback in the bud, to help secure an eventual 4-2 victory for the visiting Habs on Thursday night, giving Fowler the win in his NHL debut.
Game Recap
Fowler’s game was incredibly impressive as he made 33 saves on 35 shots, which hints at it having been much more of a flawed performance on the part of the Canadiens as a whole. Fresh off several embarrassing defeats, they’ll take this one for sure, hopefully as a stepping stone to overall improvement.
Related: Projected Lineups for Canadiens vs Penguins – 12/11/25
Case in point, you shouldn’t give up six man advantages to the top power-play unit in the league and expect to only concede a single goal, which Erik Karlsson scored in the game’s dying minutes, with goalie Tristan Jarry pulled for the extra attacker to make it six on four. Hell, you shouldn’t give up six power plays in general, let alone to the Penguins (32.4%).
The point is, Fowler, the team’s top prospect, was the difference. Perhaps more accurately, a confident goalie can make all the difference for the Canadiens, whose goaltending issues have been well-documented. He appeared calm under pressure, even making big saves, like his back-to-back stops on Karlsson and Ben Kindel on a second-period power play, appear relatively routine.
In contrast, Jarry seemed to fight the puck all night. In total, he made 25 saves, but it was the ones he didn’t make, namely on Cole Caufield’s 3-0 marker midway through the second, which the Canadiens forward put on net from behind the goal line, that tended to break the Penguins’ backs. Neither did Jarry make the big saves that Fowler did, like when Alexandre Texier capitalized on a Kris Letang giveaway in the offensive zone to notch an unassisted goal and open the scoring with his first in a Habs uniform after signing last month.
In many ways, it was a game of firsts. Forward Owen Beck, who was recalled from the Laval Rocket alongside Fowler (and defenseman Adam Engstrom) nearly joined the party when he appeared to score his first-ever NHL goal late in the second, which would have made it 4-0. However, the goal came back when the Penguins successfully challenged a non-offside call, forward Josh Anderson being the guilty party, who probably owes Beck a beer.
You’d think it will be celebratory beers all around for the Canadiens, though. Now 16-11-3, they next face the New York Rangers on the road on Saturday. Meanwhile, the 14-8-7 Penguins host the San Jose Sharks on Saturday. A week from then, the two teams reconvene for the start of a home-and-home series in Montreal. It remains to be seen whether Fowler will still be with the Habs, but, based on his performance, you have to like his chances.
