While the Montreal Canadiens are struggling with injuries, the Laval Rocket must make do without its best goal scorer, Jared Davidson and veteran forward Jashua Roy. Life goes on in Laval, just like in Montreal, despite injuries.
The Canadiens’ farm team is currently first in its division and sixth overall in the league. Goaltenders Jacob Fowler and Kaapo Kahkonen have been sharing the workload in net, with the rookies having started six games and the veteran four.
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Fowler, who most agree is the goaltender of the future for the Habs, has a 6-4-0 record, and three of his six wins were shutouts. He’s got a 2.11 goals-against average and a .921 save percentage.
On Wednesday night, the rookie was in the net for a game against the Syracuse Crunch, allowing three goals on 27 shots in a 3-2 defeat. The 20-year-old goaltender was livid after the second goal, as he felt he was interfered with. The referees ruled it was a good goal because they believed it was the Rocket’s player’s stick that made the goaltender fall over. It’s hard to see from the replay which stick belonged to the guilty party, but Fowler was adamant the goal shouldn’t have counted and charged the ref, yelling profusely.
The young man sure has a fiery temper, and the incident reminded me of the goaltender taking matters into his own hands when he was run over last season in the NCAA. While backstopping Boston College, he saw red when Tristan Fraser from Connecticut University scored on him while running him over. The netminder didn’t even take the time to get back up before punching Fraser with his blocker, earning himself a one-game suspension.
On Wednesday night in Laval, Fowler wasn’t called for a penalty, but he’ll have to be careful when interacting with the referees. Still, it’s good to see just how much the heir apparent to Carey Price hates losing. With both Samuel Montembeault and Jakub Dobes struggling in the NHL right now, Fowler’s development becomes increasingly important to the Canadiens’ future success.
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