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Instant Analysis: Blues Get Fowler-ed By Canadiens Goalie, Get Shut Out For Second Straight Game 2-0
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- Instant Analysis: Blues Get Fowler-ed By Canadiens Goalie, Get Shut Out For Second Straight Game 2-0
ST. LOUIS -- Let's just call Tuesday night what it was: a goalie win for Jacob Fowler.
The Montreal Canadiens goalie was in the St. Louis Blues ' kitchen the entire night, particularly the second- and third-periods of the Canadiens' 2-0 win at Enterprise Center.
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Fowler made a career-high 46 saves, including 24 in the third period when the Blues (5-6-1) outshot the Canadiens (7-3-2) 24-3.
"There was definitely a lot of good looks and sometimes you've got to tip your cap to their goalie," Blues forward Robert Thomas said. 'He made a lot of good saves; we've go to find a way to bear down a little bit more and put those in the net. There's a lot of things to like about tonight."
That was a hard thing to do even on a night where the Blues had shot volume (80-49), plenty of net front traffic and tons of O-zone time.
But in the end, it's the second straight shutout loss after a 4-0 loss to the Carolina Hurricanes on Saturday, extending their shutout streak to 123:55.
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"We had a lot of opportunities tonight, a lot of shots," Blues forward Dylan Holloway said. "... I thought we deserved a couple there, but credit to Fowler there in net. He was on fire tonight."
As a result, the Blues were shut out in consecutive games for the first time since Nov. 17-19, 2019 (4-0 in a loss to the San Jose Sharks and 2-0 to the Los Angeles Kings ) in what turned out to be Mike Yeo's final game as Blues coach before they hired Craig Berube in the Stanley Cup-winning season.
It's the second-most shots on goal in a shutout loss since Jan. 25, 1986 in a 1-0 loss to the Philadelphia Flyers :
As for the game ...
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* Lots of shots, lots of chances, lots of traffic ... too much Fowler --As was mentioned, sometimes you have to tip the cap to the other guy tending the net.
Fowler was exceptional.
I think if the Blues play this game 10 times, they win nine of them.
They did everything but score. Pucks were loose in the crease and they had several bodies there, they got to several rebounds and Fowler was there on every one.
Jake Neighbours hit the post from the slot in the opening period, and Cam Fowler (no relation) hit the post on a seeing-eye shot from the left point.
When things are going well, even good fortune can be your best friend.
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But make no mistake, the Blues just got goalie-d, and those nights happen.
"Fowler was too hard to beat tonight," Blues coach Jim Montgomery said. "… Fowler, he was incredible tonight. Several spectacular second saves. I didn't think we shot it in him. I thought he made the saves.
"We had plenty of both (volume and net front chances). Are we still a little too perimeter? Yeah, maybe at times, and that's something we can improve upon, but if we keep getting that many looks, there's going to be nights where you get seven, eight (goals)."
Fowler was simply masterful, and his team relied on him heavily, and I mean heavily in that third period.
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* Bolduc bites former mates -- Let's not forget Jordan Binnington, who didn't see the shot volume (20 shots) that Fowler did, but the Blues goalie also made some really good saves when the Canadiens had the jump in the early going, but in a 0-0 stalemate, there weren't going to be many opportunities to beat these goalies.
Former Blue Zack Bolduc did the honors three seconds after a Canadiens power play had expired with a rifle of a snipe from the bottom of the right circle, and it was going to take a shot like that to beat either one of these guys tonight:
I thought the call on Thomas for holding at the time was soft, and the Blues' kill, which technically was 3-for-3 in the game, suffered off it when Montreal was able to hold the zone and keep this play alive for the icebreaker at 8:37 of the second period.
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Blues fans should know all too well about these types of shots from Bolduc having seen them in the past.
* Questionable second goal --It came early in the third with Florian Xhekaj getting his first NHL goal on a tip, what appeared to be his second tip of a Mike Matheson wrister to the net.
It appeared Xhekaj directed the puck downward on the initial shot, it deflected off Binnington and behind him, and Xhekaj was able to poke it in for a 2-0 lead at 2:17 of the third period.
The play was reviewed and upheld, with the league's response being:
"It did look like it, but I don't know if he touched it there or not," Montgomery said. "But they get really good looks at it from Toronto. If they didn't think it was, we're not going to double down on it on a challenge. It's a hard thing to see but he does cross-check our defenseman down to the ice. If that doesn't happen, the defection never happens."
From there on, the Canadiens were able to sit back and defend and rely on their goalie, which they did, holding a two-goal advanatge despite the Blues throwing the kitchen sink at the Montreal goal.
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* Puck movement was sloppy early --The Blues were able to absorb the Canadiens' forecheck more times than not early, but their puck transition was not clean, and opportunities for odd-man rushes were thwarted because of it either with a bad puck touch or bad pass.
A lot of it stemmed from puck movement through the neutral zone where things didn't look clean for this group.
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