Is it time for the Habs to recall Jacob Fowler?
This week, the Montreal Canadiens have an important back-to-back on tap. On Tuesday night, they’ll host the Toronto Maple Leafs before heading a short ways down the highway to visit the Ottawa Senators on Wednesday. They’ll follow that up with a weekend back-to-back against the Sharks and Ducks; two teams they just lost to on their California road trip that will now pay them a visit at the Bell Centre.
The mid-week set is arguably the more important of the two since they’ll be against divisional opponents, and two teams headed in completely different directions. The Leafs are floundering at the bottom of the Atlantic, while the Sens are sporting a 7-1-2 record in their last 10, fighting tooth and nail to get into the wild card picture. They need both wins for different reasons; losing to a bottom-feeder isn’t acceptable at this juncture, and the Sens need to be kept at bay, to say nothing of how those points would help compete with the likes of Detroit, Boston, Tampa, and Buffalo.
With goaltending being an issue for the Habs on their recent foray into California, a significant portion of the fan base is calling for Jacob Fowler to be brought back up to the big club.
Samuel Montembeault is having the worst season of his time with the club, and arguably the worst of his NHL career. True though it may be that he made some saves against the Ducks last week, the goals he allowed were the problem. A weak shot from the point is often more dangerous with him in net than an open look in the low slot, and opposing teams have taken note of that. The book is out, everyone has read it, and turning that knowledge into goals at key times in games appears to be getting easier for them.
Jakub Dobeš had a poor outing against the Sharks last week, but followed it up with an absolute robbery of the Kings on the weekend. He has earned a little more leeway at this point, as consistency may be hard to come by for him, but his overall body of work is closer to league average. He has his off games, but bounces back from them far better than his counterpart.
Then there’s Fowler, who has been the best statistical goaltender for the Habs this season.
Sample size matters, so we have to acknowledge that there’s no way of knowing how Fowler’s numbers hold up against the same workload that Dobeš and Montembeault have shouldered. He has been very good for the Laval Rocket, but the level of difficulty is obviously cranked up to the highest level when you’re facing NHL shooters every night. Still, the temptation to bring him back up exists because he did perform well when he had the chance. He remains the only goaltender on the team to register a shutout this season.
And how will we ever account for sample size, if not by expanding it and finding out what Fowler can do with more action? Conversely, how much bigger of a sample size do we need from Montembeault before we decide once and for all that he’s not getting back to last year’s form? How many more games like the one against the Ducks can they afford to lose without trying anything different?
That last question is the most important. This isn’t just a line of thinking designed to denigrate Montembeault, as even his most passionate defenders would likely admit he’s been problematic more often than not. The team could stand to play better in front of him, without a doubt, but it’s hard for them to compensate for some of the goals that are going in right now. They just can’t afford to have points slip through their fingers because of weak shots from the point in the final minutes of games.
The Atlantic is absolutely red hot this season, and every single point matters. The Habs have to put their best foot forward in every game that they play, and it’s hard to argue that Fowler isn’t a better option than at least Montembeault at this point. I can’t speak for the entire fan base, but if I was given the power to make the decision, I’d be calling Fowler up immediately and starting him for the Toronto game on Tuesday.
Have your say in the comment section below; would you bring up Jacob Fowler, or hope that the goaltenders they have can get them through these back-to-back sets with a strong record?
