The Montreal Canadiens are sitting in the top three of the Atlantic Division with first place in their sights. However, the biggest question for the Canadiens, if they get to the Stanley Cup Playoffs, will be who will be between the pipes for Game 1 of Round 1? Will it be Samuel Montembeault, Jakub Dobes, or the rookie Jacob Fowler?
For the second time this season, the Canadiens have recalled Fowler from the AHL and the Laval Rocket. Fowler played against the Ottawa Senators on Wednesday and played with more poise and control than he did earlier in the season. He has played in 11 games this season for the Canadiens, and the goal was always to have him come up at this point in the season, and not before, as he did in December. That was never part of the plan.
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Through those 11 games, Fowler has a record of 5-4-2 with a 2.56 goals against average and a .906 save percentage with one shutout. That shutout came in his fourth game starting in the NHL. Montreal Canadiens fans have been waiting for Fowler to come up to the big club because of what he did in college with Boston College and what he was doing in the AHL for Laval.
While at times he has looked like a rookie in the NHL in some of the games he has played in, in other games he looks like the next franchise goalie, going from Ken Dryden to Patrick Roy to Carey Price to Fowler. There is a reason why Martin St. Louis wanted to go to Fowler instead of Montembeault in the second half of a back-to-back. He knew how valuable those points were in the standings.
Just look at the final minute, and the highlight reel saves he made as the Canadiens were pinned in their defensive zone by the Ottawa Senators. He robbed Claude Giroux on the doorstep. Any other goalie, in a tie game at 3-3, the Canadiens would have hung on to win thanks to Jacob Fowler.
JACOB. FOWLER. ?
You need to see these saves from the last 1:10 of this game! pic.twitter.com/L1CST0jf0c
— NHL (@NHL) March 12, 2026
Given the Canadiens goaltending situation, it isn’t inconceivable that he starts in the playoffs, as TSN Hockey Analyst and Director of Scouting, Craig Button, told Jay Onrait on SportsCenter.
Yeah. Well, I have to answer the question, yes. And now we go back a little bit in time, and when he got called up prior to Christmas, the Montreal Canadiens were stumbling along.
Sam Montembeault couldn’t find his game. Jakub Dobes had hit some speed bumps, and Jacob Fowler came in, and he gave the Canadiens a real steady presence in the net, consistent, strong play. And I think that was a really significant stretch of the season with Jacob in the net that allowed the Montreal Canadiens to get their legs underneath them and to move forward.
Now Sam Montembeaulty got his game in order. Jakub Dobes has been very good and Jacob Fowler went back down to the minors. But now you’ve got a back-to-back game. Montreal plays on Tuesday. They’re going into Ottawa. You call off Jacob Fowler. He’s in there to help your team win a game. That’s what the backup goalie in this case, has got to do.
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But when you look at goalending, and you look at the playoffs, you need obviously competence, but you need to be unflappable. In the pressure of the playoffs, you need to be poised.
Opponents are going to throw a lot of different things at you, try to get you unsettled, try to get you out of your rhythm. And so when you had the qualities that Jacob Fowler has, that poise, that just settled play, quiet feet, he’s not dancing in the crease. He’s really confident in his game; he’s got exceptional hockey sense and reads the play.
And while we can look back, Ken Dryden in 1971, six regular season games before coming in leads the Canadiens to the Stanley Cup gets the Conn Smythe. Patrick Roy in ‘86 played the full season, wins the Conn Smythe, helps the Canadiens win the Stanley Cup.
I’m not suggesting that Jacob Fowler is going to lead the Canadiens to the Stanley Cup or win the Conn Smythe, but I don’t have any question in my mind that the Game 1 starter will be Jacob Fowler because he has all those qualities that are necessary for Stanley Cup success, and I think he gives the Canadiens the best chance when the playoffs begin.
Again, Fowler shouldn’t be the saviour for the Montreal Canadiens goaltending this season. Defensively, the team needs to play better, but he has the qualities of those guys to allow Montreal to make a deep run in a wide-open Eastern Conference.
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While Fowler may not have NHL playoff experience, he does have AHL playoff experience. But to gain experience, you need to earn it. Jacob Fowler makes sense for Montreal, given that he gives the team the best chance to win. Just look at what rookie goalies have done. Cam Ward, Matt Murray, Jordan Binnington, and others had no playoff experience, and the team won the Stanley Cup.
Again, nobody is saying Fowler will lead the Montreal Canadiens to the Stanley Cup, but if he plays like Carey Price, they have a shot at making a run.
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