Jacob Fowler in, Mike Matheson out ahead of Tuesday night duel with Philly

The youngest team in the NHL is once again getting younger, at least for a night. Tuesday morning, the Montreal Canadiens announced that Jacob Fowler would be starting in net against the Philadelphia Flyers and would be backed up by Jakub Dobes. Also announced would be the day-to-day absence of Mike Matheson, who is out with what has been classified as an upper-body injury.

Jacob Fowler will make his third start in four games Tuesday night, but this will be his first start at the Bell Centre. Fowler had a mixed bag of defence thrown in front of him during those two games. The first was an excellent team effort and individual effort from Fowler in a 36-save game against the Penguins, then he was hung out to dry in a 5-4 overtime loss against the Rangers.

Dobes will be sitting on the bench in the backup position after a stellar performance on Sunday in a 27-save, 4-1 victory over the Edmonton Oilers. This will be the first time Dobes will back up the 21-year-old Florida native, as Samuel Montembeault had been on the bench during Fowler’s previous starts. Montembeault has not started a game since December 2nd against the Ottawa Senators.

Further up the ice and stopping at the blue line, we get to Mike Matheson.

Matheson played a massive role in Sunday’s felling of the Oilers, regularly being thrown over the boards to do the impossible: shut down Connor McDavid. Once again, Matheson delivered. On top of shutting down McDavid, Matheson put forth a herculean effort in closing out said game, clocking a shift that lasted four minutes and forty-seven seconds.

This season, Matheson has played heavy minutes, averaging just under 25 minutes on the ice per game. In 32 games played, Matheson has gathered 4 goals, 12 assists for 16 points.

This latest injury raises the pressure on an already thin defensive corps due to an injured Kaiden Guhle, two inconsistent players in Struble and Xhekaj, and a rookie in Adam Engstrom. It will be curious to see what line combinations Head Coach Martin St. Louis assembles for the night's match, whether he goes with a top-heavy pairing in Hutson and Dobson, or tries to spread out support from his two strongest remaining defenders.

Tuesday's match against the Flyers will be the second of four games this season. Philadelphia took the first game in a 5-4 shootout victory on November 4 at the Bell Centre. Netminder Dan Vladar started in that game, and he will also get the nod in this second matchup. Vladar is 11-5-3 this season with a 2.48 GAA and a .908 save percentage. Both Montreal and Philly have 38 points on the season, with the Habs at third in the Atlantic and the Flyers in the first Eastern Conference wildcard spot.