About Last Night: Watch highlights from Jacob Fowler's first NHL start

Rookie goaltender Jacob Fowler made 36 saves in his NHL debut to lead the Canadiens to a 4-2 win over the Penguins on Thursday at PPG Paints Arena in Pittsburgh.

The 21-year-old netminder made 16 saves in the second period to help secure the victory.

On offence, Juraj Slafkovsky and Lane Hutson each had two assists.

The other two players called up after Montreal’s disastrous loss to the Tampa Bay Lightning on Tuesday, Owen Beck and Adam Engstrom, also suited up for the club. Beck had what would’ve been his first career goal called back on an offside challenge, while Engstrom was even in 11:30 of ice time.

Fowler, wearing No. 32, took the traditional solo lap in warmup.

Montreal jumped out to an early 1-0 lead. At 2:54 of the first period, Alexandre Texier scored his first goal as a Hab off a Pittsburgh turnover.

Fowler wasn’t busy in the first period, with only four shots against. In the second period, where the Habs have been a black hole all season, the rookie was challenged.

But first, the Canadiens added to their lead. Brendan Gallagher busted out a major slump to score only his second goal of the season — 2-0 Habs.

Then on the power play, Cole Caufield scored an important goal to extend Montreal’s lead to 3-0. Yet another Caufield highlight reel goal from an impossible angle.

The Pens followed it up with a power play of their own, but Fowler was there to bail out his club with two strong saves on Erik Karlsson and Ben Kindel. The Habs escaped the Penguins’ onslaught in the second to lead 3-0 after 40 minutes.

Before the end of the second, Beck thought he put the game out of each at 4-0, but Penguins coach Dan Muse took a timeout and then challenged that the play was offside. Upon review, the officials reversed the goal, much to Beck’s disappointment.

The Penguins ended Fowler’s shutout bid 44 seconds into the third period. Sidney Crosby had multiple chances on the doorstep all night, but on this play he set up linemate Bryan Rust to put the home team on the board with plenty of time to spare.

It only took Montreal 15 seconds to restore their three-goal cushion. Slafkovsky showed patience off the rush and fed Oliver Kapanen in front for his 10th goal of the season — 4-1 Habs.

Karlsson scored one late with a power-play goal through traffic to pull Pittsburgh to within two, but that’s how it ended. The Habs hung on to win in Fowler’s debut. Crosby had a late chance back door, but Hutson was there to play goalie.

Fowler may have notched his first win, but Hutson may have had the best save of the night.

Fowler won the game with his family in attendance for the big moment.

This game could’ve gone a lot differently without Fowler’s sparkling .947 save percentage. The Pens entered the night with the league’s best power play, and the Habs took six penalties. In the end, Crosby’s club only converted once.

And that was without ace penalty killer Jake Evans, who missed the game because of personal reasons. Without Evans in the face-off dot, the Canadiens got crushed on draws, losing 59 per cent. Nick Suzuki especially struggled, going 5-for-24. At the other end, Crosby dominated at 22-for-26. If Evans is out any longer, can the Canadiens afford to have Kapanen, Beck and Joe Veleno handle more of the load? Kapanen actually won the bulk of his draws, while Beck went 4-for-7.

Meanwhile, Fowler entered Habs lore in an interesting way: he joined Ken Dryden, Patrick Roy and Carey Price as Montreal goalies who made their NHL debuts against the Pittsburgh Penguins. Needless to say, the Liveblog commenters who joined on the Hockey Inside Out YouTube livestream are hoping Fowler matches the careers of the other three. All four of them won, by the way.

While Fowler’s play was a breath of fresh air after Sam Montembeault’s and Jakub Dobes’ struggles, remember a season ago, Dobes recorded a shutout in his first NHL start.

Coach Martin St. Louis juggled the lines for last night’s game, and it was a mixed bag. Hutson and Noah Dobson formed a strong first pairing according to Hockey Stat Cards, but the Liveblog commenters wish Jayden Struble had sat instead of Arber Xhekaj.

Here’s what the commenters had to say:

3. “Always nice to see the ageless Sid the Kid in action. Good win for Fowler.” — Rick Woods 2. “Important win for the Habs and we got a peek at what Fowler might be for the franchise. Way too early to anoint him but very impressive outing.” — Kelly Morgan 1. “If they don’t start him Saturday I will be mad.” — Mario Biscotti {"_id":"","type":"raw_html","shortcode_tag":"related_links","shortcode":"[related_links \/]","content":"

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