To say that goaltender management has been a headache for the Montreal Canadiens this season would be an understatement. Samuel Montembeault has been shaky from the start, and instead of riding the hot hand, which was Jakub Dobes, Martin St-Louis tried to help his number one get back on track at the expense of the Czech masked man. The rookie goaltender couldn’t build on his momentum and ended up struggling himself, leaving the Canadiens with two struggling options.
After yet another defeat on Thursday night, the organization called up Jacob Fowler and insisted that the plan had always been to call him up sometime this season to “see where he was at, that it had nothing to do with Dobes and Montembeault’s play. Even going as far as saying that they weren’t sure if he would be playing on the road trip, while the rookie netminder told RDS that he knew he would get the start in Pittsburgh, and therefore asked his family to make the trip for his first start.
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Now that the youngster has passed the first test with flying colours, St-Louis finds himself with a rare chance at a do-over. The Habs have a back-to-back coming up, facing the New York Rangers on Saturday night on the road and then taking on the Edmonton Oilers and newly acquired goaltender Tristan Jarry at the Bell Centre on Sunday night.
Given how well Fowler has done in his debut, posting a .947 save percentage, the coach has to ride the hot hand regardless of how his other two goalies are doing. This is a professional league, and there’s no need to hold Montembeault’s hand. Saturday’s match is against an Eastern Conference team involved in the playoff race, and you have to put the goaltender who gives you the better chance of winning in the net.
The Canadiens are currently out of a wildcard spot on a tiebreaker, and the Rangers are only trailing the Habs by one point. Montreal does have two games in hand, but Saturday’s game remains a must-win.
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Sunday night’s game, being the tail-end of a back-to-back, will be the perfect opportunity to put another goalie in the net. It should be Montembeault, who has not started a game since December 2 against the Ottawa Senators. Dobes began the four games before Fowler came into the fold. While the Bell Centre crowd can at times be hostile when things reach boiling point, it hasn’t turned on the Quebecer, at least not yet, so a home game for him would make sense.
As for the rest of the week, the decision should be based on the weekend’s performance. Everyone should have a clean slate; there’s no number one, backup, or recent call-up; three goaltenders are vying for ice time. Internal competition is beneficial and can push goaltenders to outdo themselves.
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