Price nears return as Habs prepare for Coyotes
According to Canadiens coach Michel Therrien, everyone wants to see Carey Price start in goal against the Arizona Coyotes Thursday night at the Bell Centre (7:30 p.m., Sportsnet 360, RDS, TSN 690 Radio). Therrien said Price’s status is still up in the air after the goaltender missed a week with the flu, but he was encouraged by the goaltender’s first full practice with his teammates Wednesday.
“Today, obviously he had his best day,” Therrien said after the rare practice at the Bell Centre. “As the days go on, the better he feels. One thing is certain, we’re going to re-evaluate the situation the first thing Thursday. I can tell you that he’s excited to play. I’m also excited to see him play and the fans are, too.”
Price, who said he lost seven or eight pounds during the weeklong ordeal, looked sharp during the 50-minute workout although he seemed put off when captain Max Pacioretty unleashed a high shot and when Brian Flynn hit him in the collarbone.
“I had a flu, which lasted a little bit longer than I expected,” said Price. “The family was quarantined, but fortunately the baseball playoffs were on. I feel fine now. I’d like to play (Thursday night). I’ll see how I feel in the morning and take it from there.
“It’s getting close,” he added. “Everybody’s probably had the flu
before, so you know that it takes a couple of days to get your energy back, especially playing sports.”
Al Montoya did an excellent job of filling in for Price and posted a 2-0-1 record with a 1.30 goalsagainst average and an NHL-best .962 save percentage. But defenceman Nathan Beaulieu said it will be good to see Price back in action.
“He’s our heart and soul, our rock; it was nice to see him back out there,” said Beaulieu. “He moves the puck so well. He gets the puck behind the net and he’s not just rimming it. He’s like a third defenceman for us there, so we just kind of peel off and get open for him.
“He shuts down breakdowns in (the defensive) zones, so even if pucks are rimmed offensively, he’ll get out of the net and grab them,” Beaulieu added. “It’s a huge part of our defence. Killing penalties, you can dish it back to him and he’ll fire it all the way down. He’s such a big presence offensively.”
Therrien and goaltending coach Stéphane Waite mapped out a plan for how to split the goaltending work and Therrien said the earlyseason illness has forced then to revise that plan. But he said the Canadiens still plan to use Price in 60 games.
The backup goaltending position has been a revolving door since Price earned the No. 1 spot, but he said he has established a good rapport with Montoya.
“He’s a veteran guy,” said Price. “He’s not rattled or shaken by anything. It’s nice to have that in our room. He’s a really easy guy to get along with and he’s playing great hockey. It takes a lot of pressure off of me. It’s been great.”
If Price returns, that will be the lone lineup change for the Canadiens. Therrien said he planned to take another look at rookie defencemen Mikhail Sergachev. The 18-year-old Russian played only 8:30 Tuesday. Therrien said Sergachev showed improvement from his opening-night performance, but it was difficult to give him more ice time because there was a flood of penalties in the second and third periods. Sergachev had three hits in his limited ice time, tying Shea Weber, Brendan Gallagher and Artturi Lehkonen for the team lead.