Fowler makes career-high 46 saves, Canadiens blank Blues for third win in row

ST. LOUIS -- Jacob Fowler made an NHL-career high 46 saves for his sixth straight win, and the Montreal Canadiens defeated the St. Louis Blues 2-0 at Enterprise Center on Tuesday.

The shutout was Fowler’s second of the season and third in the NHL. He has allowed one goal or fewer in each of his past three starts.

“You definitely get into a rhythm -- I’m a little tired after but we’ve got a few days off so I’m sure I’ll be fine,” Fowler said. “I think if you ask a lot of guys, they play their best hockey when you don’t have time to think, you just react. I just had a good night.

“I think we put an emphasis on the ‘D’ of boxing out tonight. I thought they had a lot of traffic tonight. Can’t say enough good things about them. They let me see the shots and to be good in this league, if you see it, you’ve got to stop it. I got lucky tonight.”

Canadiens forward Florian Xhekaj said of Fowler: “He just kind of rises to the moment. He’s just so calm in the net. It’s so easy to play when he’s that good back there.”

Zachary Bolduc scored against his former team, and Xhekaj scored his first NHL goal for the Canadiens (7-3-2), who have won three straight and extended their point streak to five games (4-0-1). Mike Matheson had two assists.

“We bent but we didn’t break,” Montreal coach Martin St. Louis said. “We’ll look at it, but we don’t want to be a team that spends that much time in our zone.”

It was Montreal’s first game following a 2-1 win against the Winnipeg Jets in the 2026 Tim Hortons NHL Heritage Classic on Sunday.

Jordan Binnington made 18 saves for the Blues (5-6-1), who have been shut out in back-to-back games after winning the first two of a five-game homestand. St. Louis lost 4-0 to the Carolina Hurricanes on Saturday.

“There’s definitely a lot of good looks and sometimes you’ve got to tip your cap to their goalie,” Blues captain Robert Thomas said. “He made a lot of good saves, and we’ve got to find a way to bear down a little bit more and put those in the net more. There’s a lot of things to like about tonight.”

Right after a Montreal power play expired, Bolduc gave the Canadiens a 1-0 lead at 8:37 of the second period when he roofed a one-timer from the bottom of the right circle off Matheson’s pass from the high slot.

Bolduc, acquired from the Blues for defenseman Logan Mailloux on July 1, 2025, scored for the first time in his third game against the team that selected him in the first round (No. 17) of the 2021 NHL Draft.

Xhekaj made it 2-0 at 2:17 of the third period after he was able to tip Matheson's wrist shot from the blue line twice. The first deflection went off Binnington before Xhekaj tipped it again once it got behind the Blues goalie. The play was reviewed for a high stick, and the goal was confirmed.

“I (saw) ‘Matty’ made a fake, he was walking the line, kind of offensive boxed out the guy, and I got a stick on it,” Xhekaj said. “It felt pretty good.

“I was stressing for sure on the bench (during the review). All the boys, I think, were stressing for me too. Jake (Evans) didn’t know if he touched it or not after, so he was like, ‘Ah, I’d hate to be that guy.’ I said, ‘It’s all right, if it’s not, it will come in the future.’ I wasn’t too worried, but it was nice they counted it.”

Fowler made 24 saves in the third period when Montreal was outshot 24-3, but the Blues couldn’t solve him. They pulled Binnington for an extra attacker with seven minutes remaining and spent the majority of the remainder of the game with a 6-on-5 advantage.

“They put out the (Alex) Newhook line, they had their two best defensive defensemen, but that doesn’t concern me,” Blues coach Jim Montgomery said of pulling the goalie with so much time left. “It’s the line they had out -- I don’t think it was their best defensive line -- and I thought there was a lull in our offense, so I just wanted to give us urgency and I thought it did. It created a firestorm. We ended up with that line in the D-zone, they iced the puck four times.

“Usually you’re going to score when that happens, and we should have, but Fowler was too hard to beat tonight. … Fowler, he was incredible tonight. Several spectacular second saves. I didn’t think we shot it in him. I thought he made the saves.”

NOTES: Fowler’s 46 saves were the third most in a shutout in Canadiens history, behind Jacques Plante (52 saves) on Nov. 13, 1955, against the Chicago Blackhawks (2-0 win) and Sam Montembeault (48 saves) on Oct. 9, 2024, against the Toronto Maple Leafs (1-0 win). Fowler also set a Canadiens record for saves in a shutout by a rookie (since 1955-56 when shots on goal were officially tracked), besting Cayden Primeau (41 on March 12, 2024) and Tony Esposito (41 on Dec. 21, 1968). … The Blues were shut out in back-to-back games for the first time since Nov. 17 (4-0 against the San Jose Sharks) and Nov. 19, 2018 (2-0 against the Los Angeles Kings). … St. Louis’ 46 shots were the second most in a shutout loss in franchise history, behind 48 in a 1-0 loss to the Philadelphia Flyers on Jan. 25, 1986. … Blues forward Alexey Toropchenko had two shots on goal in 10:25 of ice time in his return after missing 10 games with a shoulder injury.