WINNIPEG \u2014 Leave it to the kid from Florida to steal the show in Winnipeg.<\/p>\n
That\u2019s what Jacob Fowler<\/a> did Sunday at Princess Auto Stadium, earning the Montreal Canadiens<\/a> a 2-1 win over the Winnipeg Jets in the Heritage Classic, and showing just how prepared he is to step up under the spotlight.<\/p>\n This was the 21-year-old\u2019s biggest game of the 23 he\u2019s played in this league to date. The native of Melbourne, Fla. came into it as the youngest goaltender to ever start an NHL outdoor game, though you\u2019d never know it watching him thwart all but one Jets chance in a 33-save performance.<\/p>\n Fowler looked like a seasoned veteran all the way through. He looked cool and composed, like he always does; like a kid just yucking it up with his buddies on a backyard rink rather than one playing under the nation\u2019s watch \u2014 in the centre of a massive field surrounded by 32,343 fans in one of hockey\u2019s most unique atmospheres.<\/p>\n When you think about what that means about Fowler, you know it bodes extremely well for both him and the Canadiens.<\/p>\n They\u2019re a team rising towards perennial contention, and he\u2019s a star in the making at the most important position.<\/p>\n And yet, Fowler seems so grounded.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s a ton of pressure being a starting goalie, and it\u2019s a ton of pressure being the starting goalie on the Canadiens,\u201d said Jake Evans. \u201cI think he kind of just pushes that aside and believes in himself and he doesn\u2019t really worry about all the outside noise.\u201d<\/p>\n And that noise has only gotten louder since they did with the 69th pick that year.<\/p>\n He followed up excellent pre-draft seasons in the USHL with two dominant seasons at Boston College. He then graduated to the AHL and won 21 of his first 30 games there. And he didn\u2019t allow a pre-season demotion, following last year\u2019s impressive NHL experience, to stop him from leaping into the starter\u2019s role in Montreal.<\/p>\n The hype around Fowler has been consistent all the way through, but none of it has apparently gotten to his head.<\/p>\n Neither has the moment, as evidenced by his performance in this big-stage game on this cold Winnipeg night.<\/p>\n \u201cIt was just so much fun to be out there,\u201d Fowler said. \u201cI think our whole team has been thinking about this game for a long time, and when I first got sent to Laval, I was pretty disappointed just thinking about how I wasn\u2019t going to get a chance to play in this game\u2026\u201d<\/p>\n After winning four of his first five games since being recalled to Montreal due to an injury to Samuel Montembeault, there was no way Fowler would be sitting this one out.<\/p>\n Not with a .910 save percentage and 1.96 goals-against average, and not with Jakub Dobes struggling to rekindle the magic that vaulted him into the starter\u2019s role last winter.<\/p>\n \u201cHe\u2019s just really good,\u201d said Cole Caufield, affirming what we saw from Fowler against the Jets all night.<\/p>\n It started with great first-period saves on Kyle Connor, Cole Perfetti and Mark Scheifele. It ended with even better ones in the third, when the Jets were pressing for two goals long after Kaiden Guhle joined Lane Hutson as one of two defencemen to score for the Canadiens.<\/p>\n Isak Rosen finally shelved Winnipeg\u2019s 32nd shot of the night, but Fowler was otherwise unbeatable.<\/p>\n \u201cHe just looks so calm and confident in there,\u201d said Noah Dobson, who assisted on Hutson\u2019s game-opening goal to notch his fourth assist in an outdoor game and become the most productive defenceman in NHL outdoor game history.<\/p>\n \u201cHe\u2019s been playing great all year, but it\u2019s even more impressive in this environment,\u201d Dobson continued. \u201cIt\u2019s not easy to track pucks. I know when I played in my first one the goalies were complaining it\u2019s hard to see, but he made it look pretty easy tonight. Obviously was a big part of our win, our best player, so it\u2019s great to see. He\u2019s a great kid. He has fun, he stays loose, and he makes the saves when he needs to.\u201d<\/p>\n Fowler makes the saves. Period.<\/p>\n \u201cHe\u2019s done it at every level,\u201d noted Canadiens coach Martin St. Louis, echoing those famous comments from Ryan that have only been affirmed.<\/p>\n Back then \u2014 and even one month ago \u2014 Fowler was seen as the Canadiens\u2019 goaltender of the future.<\/p>\n But what the Florida native did in Winnipeg on Sunday was provide more evidence his time is now.<\/p>\n The win brought Fowler to 5-1-0, with a .924 save percentage and 1.79 goals-against average. It vaulted him to fourth in the NHL in goals saved above expected. And it helped him confirm he\u2019s a big-game player.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"WINNIPEG \u2014 Leave it to the kid from Florida to steal the show in Winnipeg. 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