In his return to the Montreal Canadiens (36-18-10), goaltender Jacob Fowler made 32 saves to lift his club to a 3-2 victory over the Ottawa Senators on Wednesday at Canadian Tire Centre.

Fowler was recalled from the AHL’s Laval Rocket earlier in the day.

Of all his saves on the night, none were perhaps more important than stopping Claude Giroux to begin a final minute stand against the pressing Sens. Here’s the entire final 1:10 of Fowler under siege.

Cole Caufield only played two shifts in the third period after coming down with the flu on Tuesday against the Toronto Maple Leafs, and he ended up missing his first game of the season on Wednesday. Alexandre Texier took his place and scored his first goal since his hat trick on Jan. 8.

Ivan Demidov entered the game in the midst of a slump, with only three goals in his last 24 games. He scored a goal and added an assist to cross the 50-point plateau in his rookie campaign.

It was Juraj Slafkovsky who opened scoring 1:16 into the game on the power play. With his 164th point, Slafkovsky passed Henri Richard for most points by a Hab before turning 22.

Still in the first period, Drake Batherson scored twice to give Ottawa the lead. The first came on a Sens power play. The second was originally awarded to Tim Stutzle.

The game did get physical at times. Former Hab Nick Cousins hit Alexandre Carrier in the corner, and Josh Anderson took exception to it later in the shift.

With Caufield out, it seemed likely that either Texier or Patrik Laine would return to the lineup. The Habs went with the former, and he beat Ullmark on a wraparound to tie it up late in the second period.

At times, the Habs played like a team running on fumes after beating the Maple Leafs the night before. But they perked up in the third period. Demidov was gifted a massive rebound in front by Ullmark and he made no mistake to give the Habs a 3-2 lead with 7:20 to play in regulation.

Fowler did the rest. He made 13 saves in the third period to give the Habs not only a third consecutive win, but the club’s second straight strong goaltending performance after Jakub Dobes allowed one goal against the Leafs the night before.

Asked about it before the game, coach Martin St. Louis didn’t want to talk about the team’s other goalie, Samuel Montembeault, but said playing Fowler gave them the best chance to win. Montembeault was a healthy scratch.

The Habs play another back-to-back this weekend. If last night’s triumphant return is any indication, Fowler looks like a goalie who never wants to see Laval again.