Call of the Wilde: Jacob Fowler shines again in a convincing win for the Montreal Canadiens in Chicago

The streak is over at 546 straight games played for Nick Suzuki. The Montreal Canadiens captain is out of the lineup for two to four weeks with a finger injury after blocking a shot on Tuesday night.

The challenge is on for the Canadiens to rise above losing their best player. Night one was in Chicago and it was an impressive one for the Montreal Canadiens beating the Blackhawks 4-1.

Wilde Horses

The Canadiens needed someone to step up. Enter, if you can believe it, Jake Evans. The same Evans who hadn’t scored all season. In the first period, his line put together an exquisite passing play to count. It was Owen Beck, quickly to Kirby Dach who fed it in front to Evans who went far side.

In the second period, the Canadiens took far too many penalties, but not only did they kill them, they scored shorthanded. Kaiden Guhle won the puck in front of his own net, and somehow, after that, all the Hawks disappeared. Evans and Guhle led a two-on-one with Evans ripping a shot into the top corner over the shoulder of Spencer Knight.

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The unlikely pair combined again late in the second period. It was Evans feeding Guhle at the point, and he fired through a maze of bodies his first goal of the season. That’s a three point night for Evans. The line with Beck and Dach had their best game of the season.

Mike Matheson added an empty netter in his first game back. He had a solid game paired with Lane Hutson.

The most important goaltending statistic in the new era is Goals Saved Above Expected. The best goalie in the playoffs last season was Jakub Dobes in this statistic. He was phenomenal. This season… not so much. Out of 68 goalies in the net this NHL season, Dobes ranks 66th.

Jacob Fowler is 15th in GSAE this season. He’s the goalie that the Canadiens need to rely on to in the crease right now. Fowler is technically sound. For what he lacks in size compared to Dobes, he wins in technical ability. He tracks the puck so calmly. He is prepared for rebounds in a perfect position after the initial shot.

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Fowler received high praise from Carey Price recently. Price said that the goalie that reminds him of his style the most is Fowler. That’s some high praise.

Fowler put in a 1.16 GSAE in this one. He held the Canadiens in when they struggled in the opening period. St. Louis said earlier this week that he doesn’t like one of his goalies to sit too long. He may have to rethink that considering there is such a disparity between the two goalies presently.

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After the loss to the Sharks, St. Louis commented that players have to understand what the game needs from them. He was speaking to penalties taken, and odd man rushes allowed while leading. He mentioned that his team had the puck in the offensive zone when the comeback started.

The head coach wants his team to understand that up 3-1, they need to shut the game down, not keep it wide open looking for a fourth goal. They learned the lesson. Looking to give it everything they had, Chicago got only four shots on net in the third period.

Wilde Goats

It’s impossible to replace a number one line with a 64 per cent Expected Goals this season. The first attempt at centre in between Cole Caufield and Juraj Slafkovsky was given to Oliver Kapanen. Head Coach Martin St. Louis didn’t want to ruin the chemistry of a couple secondary lines, so he kept those lines together.

It’s hard to describe how valuable Suzuki is to the team sometimes, but when two wingers have a 64 per cent xG, then Kapanen moves to the line and the xG drops to three per cent for 40 minutes, the perfect description has been found.

With the other lines doing well, it’s hard to imagine what St. Louis will do. He can’t have a number one line destroyed, but he doesn’t have a better alternative either. He’ll need to be patient.

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They need a little time to develop some chemistry. In fact, late in the second period, they started to turn it around, and deserve another look to see if they’re figuring it out. The line finished with a 37 Expected Goals share thanks to a terrific third period.

The only goat has an undercurrent of a developing positive. Nothing but praise for a team that finally held a 3-1 lead.

Wilde Cards

It’s hard to believe, but the knives are out right now for General Manager Kent Hughes because he didn’t get a second line centre in the off-season. However, it should always be remembered that the goal of a GM isn’t to win a championship in October, but to create an open window for a title for seven to ten seasons.

There is absolutely no doubt that Hughes could have acquired a second line centre last June, but at a cost that was so high, that only this season would be better than the rest of the seasons to come. The solution for Hughes has to work in the short and the long term.

To acquire a strong 34 year old centre giving up talented 20 year olds only to have the 34 year old retire next season while the 20 year olds puts in 15 seasons on other teams is not good management.  If there was a deal to be made, Hughes would have made it.

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It’s going to be a difficult month without Nick Suzuki, but then it will be December, and barring a catastrophic next 13 games, the club will survive. At the trading deadline, Hughes may get another opportunity to make a smart trade for the future, and load up for the playoffs.

Michael Hage is coming soon as well. He may come as soon as this season after he finishes the the NCAA college playoffs. Michigan is the top team in the country. If the Wolverines advance to the Frozen Four, then Hage will arrive mid-April. If they fail to advance, Hage will arrive for the final push in the regular season.

Right now, Oliver Kapanen trying to fill in as Suzuki is obviously a tall order, but the wise see a long horizon while the foolish can only see past their nose.

Brian Wilde, a Montreal-based sportswriter, brings you Call of the Wilde on globalnews.ca after each Canadiens game.