Promoting goalie Jacob Fowler isn't a 'desperation' move, Canadiens coach says

If this was the calm before the storm, the Canadiens on Wednesday did their best to defuse what appears to be an explosive situation.

While rookie goaltender Jacob Fowler was one of three players — along with forward Owen Beck and defenceman Adam Engstrom — recalled Tuesday night from the AHL’s Laval Rocket, Canadiens head coach Martin St. Louis did not say if the 21-year-old will start Thursday’s game against the Penguins in Pittsburgh (7 p.m., TSN2, RDS, TSN Radio-690, 98.5 FM).

St. Louis also denied the move smacks of desperation, although his team lost its last two games at home, has been guilty of numerous defensive lapses and has been plagued by inconsistent goaltending throughout the season.

“I don’t think we’ll ever do anything out of desperation,” St. Louis said. “Somebody who is desperate, it’s because he’s not calculating and doesn’t have a plan.

“This (promoting Fowler) is something we’ve been talking about,” he added. “I wouldn’t say it’s a message sent by the general manager (Kent Hughes). These are decisions we make as an organization. It’s not just Kent who does it all on his own. It’s an organizational decision.”

Hughes wasn’t made available on Wednesday and neither was Fowler after the team’s practice at the CN Sports Complex. The organization wants to wait until after Fowler plays — Montreal faces the Rangers in New York Saturday night before returning home against Edmonton on Sunday — before making him available to the media.

Fowler, in his first full season with Laval, has posted impressive numbers on a team that leads the North Division (16-7). He is 10-5 with a 2.09 goals-against average, a .919 save percentage and three shutouts. But the Rocket also has 29-year-old veteran Kaapo Kahkonen, who has 140 games of NHL experience with Minnesota, San Jose, New Jersey and Colorado.

St. Louis said Fowler, whether he plays or not, will “gain experience from being around the group. We knew at some point that we wanted to see Fowler, to see where he is in his development. We’ll see if he plays.”

The Canadiens also didn’t make goalies Samuel Montembeault or Jakub Dobes available for interviews on Wednesday. Dobes started Tuesday’s 6-1 loss against Tampa Bay, but was removed after allowing three first-period goals on 14 shots. Montembeault played the final 40 minutes and wasn’t any better despite facing only 13 shots.

Dobes, who appears to have supplanted Montembeault of late, has a 3.15 GAA and .887 save percentage in 17 games. Montembeault has a 3.65 GAA and .857 save percentage in 15 games.

Beck likely has been recalled as a precautionary measure in case Jake Evans is unavailable. Evans missed practice for what the team described as personal reasons, although RDS reported he has been playing with an injured foot since Nov. 20 and was in Philadelphia on Wednesday, being examined by a specialist.

Beck practised Wednesday on a line between Alexandre Texier and Josh Anderson. Zachary Bolduc was with Nick Suzuki and Cole Caufield, replacing Juraj Slafkovsky, who was with Oliver Kapanen and Ivan Demidov. Joe Veleno was between Jared Davidson and Brendan Gallagher.

“I feel like we give a lot of goals early in periods,” St. Louis said. “I wouldn’t say it’s all on the goalies. I think everybody’s got to be better. Our collective game in front of our goalies needs to be better so we can help them out. You have two choices — make progress or make excuses. You can’t do both.”

Gallagher, the Canadiens’ elder statesman at 33 and in his 14th season, said no team goes through an 82-game schedule without experiencing ebbs and flows. He said it’s not uncommon for a team to see a revolving door of personnel moves, pointing to the competitive nature of pro sports.

“We understand there’s some excitement around the players coming up,” he admitted. “I’ll just say this: I think internal competition within a team is always important. I don’t think anyone at any point feels comfortable. There’s competition for spots. That doesn’t mean anything’s going to be given or handed out. It means we have another good player added to our group.

“We have a short-term focus. It’s (management’s) decision to make on who they feel is going to help us win games. If that’s who they decide, that’s who we go with.”

Gallagher said he has empathy for what Dobes and Montembeault are experiencing, knowing one will be a healthy scratch once Fowler dresses and/or plays.

“They’re human. That’s understandable,” Gallagher said. “We do what we can to make sure they’re in the right mindset. It’s probably nothing they haven’t dealt with before. You want them to feel confident. They’re both very good goaltenders and have been very good goaltenders for us. Our confidence in them hasn’t wavered. We understand how talented they are.”

hzurkowsky@postmedia.com

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