in their second home arena - the Canadian Tire Centre - the Montreal Canadiens held on for a huge 3-2 win on Wednesday night against the Ottawa Senators.
Why Montreal won that game on Wednesday? Goalie Jacob Fowler, who was called up from the AHL's Laval Rocket to act as a backup netminder. He would end up stopping 32 of 34 shots for a .941 save percentage while also improving his record as the Habs' starting goaltender to 5-4-2.
With the Senators surging and the second-place Tampa Bay Lightning going through a losing streak, Fowler's efforts were not only key in securing a divisional win but also in gaining ground on their playoff-chasing rivals. Heading into Friday's action, the Canadiens sit two points behind the Lightning for second in the Atlantic Division and just four points back of the Buffalo Sabres for the top spot in the division. Like Tampa Bay, Montreal has two games in hand on the first-place Sabres, essentially making this a three-way race for the division title. But if the Habs are to find themselves fighting with a resurgent Lightning squad and a Sabres side that is seemingly vaccinated against significant adversity, then Fowler is going to have to put up some more quality performances akin to the one posted against Ottawa.
But Fowler isn't the only rookie goaltender to have come in and secured several big wins for his team.
In Carolina, goaltender Brandon Bussi has quickly cemented himself as part of the team's goaltending tandem with Pyotr Kochetkov more than likely out for the remainder of the season due to a lower-body injury. Though his most recent outing was a 3-1 loss to the St Louis Blues, which saw him record a save percentage of .875, the Hurricanes netminder has a 25-5-1 record as the Hurricanes starting goaltender. Bussi's 25 wins make up the majority of Carolina's 41-win tally to this point, which has them in first place in the Metropolitan Division by nine points.
It's also worth noting that Bussi is the fastest goaltender to 25 career wins and that such efforts have motivated the Hurricanes' front office to reward him with a three-year contract extension. That move also allowed for the Hurricanes to lock in some of their goaltending depth ahead of a free agency period that will see veteran Frederik Andersen become an unrestricted free agent.
Out west, the Minnesota Wild is another example of a team with a strong rookie goaltender. While Swedish goaltender Jesper Wallstedt played five games over the previous two seasons, he is still considered a rookie given that the NHL defines a rookie as a player who had not played six games or more in the last two seasons or who has not played more than 25 games in his NHL career.
Through his first 26 games of the season, Wallstedt has posted a 14-6-6 record, a goals against average of 2.77, and a save percentage of .913. Alongside fellow Swede Filip Gustavsson, who himself is posting some of the best numbers of his career, Wallstedt is part of one of the league's more dynamic and dangerous goaltending duos. If him and Gustavsson continue to record strong goaltending performances night in and night out, the Wild could possess a major advantage in a potential playoff series against other Cup contenders like the Dallas Stars and Colorado Avalanche.
Together, the Wild's goaltending unit sits fourth in the NHL in goals against per game while also serving as the league's second best tandem in terms of save percentage.
With all of the above cases considered at the same time, that's three contenders who will be relying on rookie goaltenders to not only compete for strong playoff seeding but to also push for a potential run to the Stanley Cup Final.
And to this point in the season, they've all been doing incredibly well. One can argue that Fowler's latest outing against the Senators is his standout performance at this moment; he has also been able to consisntently put together desperately-needed wins for a good-but-inconsistent Habs goaltending unit. For Bussi, it's his efforts in the Hurricanes' 2-1 home win against the Sabres that can be seen as both his breakout and his best performance to date. And for Wallstedt, who went through November with six wins out of six, it was his two dominant outings against the Edmonton Oilers that can be seen as his best games of the season thus far.
If all three goalies can continue to deliver these performances? It might not be surprising if one of their teams ends up in at least a Conference Final.