Dec 11, 2025; Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA; Montreal Canadiens goalie Jacob Fowler before his debut against the Pittsburgh Penguins at PPG Paints Arena. | Credit: Philip G. Pavely-Imagn Images
There’s a delay to allow people to get to the rink. Jacob Fowler’s NHL debut will wait another 30 minutes.
First period
Owen Beck puts enough pressure on Kris Letang at the end of a long shift for the veteran defenceman to create a turnover. Alexandre Texier collects the puck and fires it off the far-side elbow of the net and in to open the scoring. Beck won’t get a point on the play, but it doesn’t happen without him.
Sidney Crosby tries to tip the puck in in front of the net, but the puck hits him in the instep and he goes down for several seconds. Such a thing would never happen to him if he played in Montreal.
Pittsburgh was setting up for a breakaway, but a strong backcheck from Ivan Demidov prevented them from even getting a shot. Fowler hasn’t seen any through nine minutes of play.
Alexandre Carrier sees another odd-man situation developing and hops on the back of Justin Brazeau to prevent it.
Fowler makes his first stop after following the puck movement to stop a cross-crease pass. That probably would have been a goal on Samuel Montembeault given his struggles with puck-tracking.
Mike Matheson hops around Carrier as he exits the box for a two-on-one with his fellow defenceman. Matheson keeps the puck (the right decision) and tries to go high short-side, but Tristan Jarry makes the save.
Demidov crashes hard into the boards while travelling at speed, and is slow to get up. Those are always hard on shoulders.
Crosby sets up a point-blank chance for Rutger McGroarty, but Fowler makes a calm save. It’s the same story of few opposition chances but great ones. Fortunately, there’s a composed player in the crease tonight.
Brazeau is off for holding Jayden Struble, so the Habs will have a chance to double the lead.
Well extending the lead would have required a shot, and Montreal didn’t come close to setting up for one.
Crosby tries to find a hole in Fowler’s defence, but can only hit the outside of the net.
Brendan Gallagher wins a race to the puck and gets in tight for a chance. We haven’t seen that all season.
Demidov is back on the ice and stick-handling around people, so his shoulder seems to be fine.
Caufield and Suzuki create four more chances on the final shift.
Limiting the Penguins to four shots was a great period with a goalie playing his first game, even if Fowler did have to make a couple of big saves on some breakdowns. A good period that saw them put nine shots on net despite one wasted power play.
Second period
Parker Wotherspoon gets in Crosby’s way as he tries to skate to the bench after Jarry makes a save and gets in a few jabs on the Habs captain.
Montreal had the puck but couldn’t get it out. Fowler calmly settles the situation with a save and smother of the short rebound.
Fowler makes a save through traffic off his toe and the puck bounces past all the Penguins’ forwards to Juraj Slafkovský he hands it off to Lane Hutson for the zone entry, Hutson stops up to get it across from Brendan Gallagher, and Gallagher fires the puck to the top corner for a 2-0 lead.
Lane Hutson stops up, finds Brendan Gallagher, and he goes cookie jar to make it 2-0.
— Matt Drake (@drakemt.bsky.social) December 11, 2025 at 9:42 PM
Dobson lets his man get behind him below the circles and has to slash him to prevent a shot.
Fowler looked calm versus the league’s top power play (which is minus Evgeni Malkin), including on a bank attempt off him from behind the goal line.
Tipped puck in the slot? No issue for Fowler.
Beck wins a defensive-zone faceoff and Ville Koivunen has to trip up Adam Engström to prevent a break. Good work from both rookies.
The second power play looks much better than the first one. They get set up and move it around, before Caufield decides it’s time for a shot. He takes it from the goal line, surprising Jarry and putting Montreal up by three.
Cole Caufield catches Jarry puck watching and banks one in off his skate. 3-0 #Habs
— Matt Drake (@drakemt.bsky.social) December 11, 2025 at 9:55 PM
Jared Davidson heads to the box for pulling on Crosby’s shoulder in the neutral zone. A less-good play for that rookie, but maybe it will turn out to be the right move.
Fowler just made back-to-back great saves on shots from close range as the penalty-kill box didn’t stop a slot chance. Still better than the diamond.
That was a dangerous power play for Pittsburgh. It will get them back in this game if the Habs don’t stay out of the penalty box.
The video review officials call in trying to spoil Fowler’s debut, but the replay shows that he sealed the post on one of the saves and didn’t cross the goal line. As if he’d allow that to happen.
Struble lands a hit on Noel Acciari, who kicks out like a mule and catches him with the skate boot in a sensitive region. Talk about a bag skate.
For some reason Montreal is overextending for a fourth goal, and it leads to a three-on-one against. Engström is the one back and makes an exceptional play to break it up and turn the puck back up the ice.
Beck does add the fourth goal, beating Jarry on what should have been a save, but was instead Beck’s first NHL goal.
Or was it? The Penguins are challenging to see if Anderson was offside on the entry. It took a while but they were successful.
Beck will have to wait for his first. An unlucky night for him as he has a rescinded goal and a non-assist.
Struble makes a poor pass across the blue line, but defence partner Engström is speedy enough to deny the counter.
McGroarty fires a puck off the post on a breakaway. Way too many odd-man chances being given up right now.
Montreal played decently well in that period until the got the lead and started doing silly things. The defencemen need to be a little more conservative when they join the attack in the third. Dealing with the two or three power plays the Penguins will get as the trailing team will be tough enough.
Third period
RDS shows Fowler’s mother taking a deep breath before the start of the period. He’s a lot calmer than she is.
Montreal treats the opening shift like a penalty kill. The Penguins take advantage and spoil Fowler’s shutout bid with a goal from Bryan Rust.
The Habs get it right back though. Slafkovský begins the breakout, then collects the puck back for the zone entry. He draws two defenders on his way to the net before passing across to an open Oliver Kapanen for the 4-1 goal.
Juraj Slafkovsky with some great patience, gifts a goal to Oliver Kapanen. 4-1 #Habs
— Matt Drake (@drakemt.bsky.social) December 11, 2025 at 10:40 PM
Remember when Matheson used to refuse to pass to Slafkovský because the Slovak had difficulty making a play with the puck? That well in the past.
Montreal is heading to the power play. A chance to make it a four-goal lead, or at least drain two more minutes off the clock.
Pittsburgh gets its first power play of the third on a hook from Demidov. A little too aggressive after losing the handle on the puck in the offensive zone.
Anderson blocks two shots on the power play.
Pittsburgh gets its second power play when Carrier tries to prevent Ben Kindel from getting to the crease and cross-checks him in the face. They might get more than three at this rate.
Demidov is on the ice killing this penalty. He applied good pressure at the blue line. I think he can become a dangerous PK player over his career.
Engström absorbs a hit on the boards, spins to the middle, and moves the puck out of his zone. He’s pretty good.
Suzuki glides down the ice with Bolduc in a foot race for the puck. Bolduc is able to get the puck over, and Suzuki tries from flatfooted dekes but can’t make them work.
Pittsburgh’s third power play comes on what looked like perfectly acceptable defence from Engström trying to keep his man to the outside. Would that be a penalty in a one-goal game. No chance.
The Canadiens have gone back to a diamond for the four-on-six with Jarry out, and it is now 4-2 on a point shot from Erik Karlsson that went through the screen set up by Matheson.
We’re now in mad scramble mode with two minutes to play,
Fowler reaches out and casually grabs a Crosby shot through another screen from his own defenceman.
Hutson makes a glove save with Fowler fooled by some quick puck movement. He might have saved the game there.
The Penguins take a penalty with 19 seconds to go, and that should seal it.
A needed win. Not a perfect one with how they played after going up three, but keeping Pittsburgh at two goals was a commendable effort.
Now for a shot trip to New York City. Does Fowler start again on Saturday?
EOTP 3 Stars
3) Maybe the position isn’t as complicated as it has looked recently
2) Sometimes the game shows up late to you
1) A composed start to a long career
