The Montreal Canadiens will be rolling with a Jakub instead of a Jacob when they head to Dallas on Thursday. An official decision was announced by the team on social media on Wednesday that Jakub Dobes would be starting.
Despite coming off a 46-save shutout, Fowler is getting a night off. He’s played in four of the last five games, so the logic can be found. However, this decision could be doing the team a disservice.
If they were playing back-to-back days, then this move wouldn’t even be questioned. That’s standard operating procedure. However, since they have the travel day, the Canadians would be better off riding the hot hand.
One Canadiens goalie is winning; the other isn’t
Since losing his season debut on Oct. 8, Fowler has won six straight games. They haven’t all been pretty performances, but he’s finally starting to find his groove. Over his last three games, he’s posted a .980 save percentage.
He has back-to-back games where he’s saved at least 33 shots. Overall, he has two shutouts over seven games.
Meanwhile, Dobes has had the opposite experience. Since winning his first start, the Canadiens haven’t won with him between the pipes. In those losses, he has an .828 save percentage. He’s had more games in that span with a save percentage below .800 than at .900 or better (it’s happened once).
When going up against a good team like Dallas, it almost sets the tone that they’re punting this game.
Why let Fowler cool off?
Another valid reason to go with Dobes would be if Fowler had an off night or two. Then, you’re giving him a chance to breathe, and then they send him back out there.
That’s not the case. This is the best the young goalie has ever looked. They run the risk of taking off his rhythm. It’s not the talent from Dobes that isn’t in there. We know it is, but finding out when come back can wait.
Nobody is hoping that Dobes’ start doesn’t work out, but a hot goalie is always the right call. If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it.
If they lose on Thursday, the first question should and likely will be why they didn’t start Fowler. No answer will be good enough in that circumstance.
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