Canadiens’ Fowler Gets First Career Shutout as Habs Beat Penguins 4-0

The Montreal Canadiens are probably thinking they’d like to face the Pittsburgh Penguins every game, but rookie goalie Jacob Fowler, especially. After he won his first career game against the Pens earlier this month, the rookie earned his first career shutout against them on Saturday at the Bell Centre, as the Habs came away with the 4-0 win.

Game Recap

Fowler made 31 stops in the game, with seven alone coming on a third-period power play with defenseman Lane Hutson off for cross-checking. However, he (obviously) held the fort, but it was coincidentally Hutson’s accomplishment in the game, notching his 100th career point on Owen Beck’s 2-0 goal in the first period, that arguably held more significance.

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On the play, Hutson stripped Rickard Rakell of the puck and passed it to Brendan Gallagher, who in turn got it to Beck. The rookie forward raced down the wing. Penguins defenseman Parker Wotherspoon blew a tire, which cleared more of a path for Beck, who roofed it on newly acquired goalie Stuart Skinner, taking his shot from the faceoff circle.

After a few false alarms, including against the Penguins in the two teams’ last game on Dec. 9 (which Fowler won 4-2), Beck finally got his first NHL goal, adding to the list of Canadiens accomplishments in this game. Also of note, Josh Anderson scored a pair, including an empty-netter, but more importantly a shorthanded goal on a breakaway to make it 3-0 in the second.

Juraj Slafkovsky initially got the Canadiens on the board on the power play in the first, taking and firing home a Cole Caufield pass in the slot. That in effect gave the Habs goals four different ways: on the man advantage, at even strength, shorthanded and into the empty net. Hardly record-setting by any stretch, but impressive nevertheless on a night where they carried the play for most of the game, before the Hutson penalty, at which point the Penguins began dictating the tempo of play en route to outshooting the Habs 31-21.

By then though, it was too late, with Fowler standing tall, as he improved his record to 2-0-1. The Canadiens improved to 19-12-4, while the Penguins fell to 14-11-9. Fowler will technically get his hypothetical wish, as the two teams complete a home-and-home series tomorrow in Pittsburgh. It’s just unlikely he gets the net in back-to-back games, with the Boston Bruins, the Habs’ last opponents before the Christmas break, next Tuesday on the road, presenting a likelier scenario for him to build off this latest milestone.