Healthy Price is something for Habs to hang their hats on
Montreal dodges bullet as goalie unscathed in his final game this regular season
Carey Price is healthy heading into the playoffs.
As far as the Canadiens are concerned, that was the most important news following Friday night’s 4-2 loss to the Tampa Bay Lightning at the Bell Centre in which the all-star goalie stopped 18 of 22 shots.
There was some head-shaking in the press room in Brossard earlier in the day when coach Claude Julien announced after the morning skate Price would be playing in what was basically a meaningless game for the Canadiens, who have already clinched first place in the Atlantic Division and will be playing the New York Rangers in the first round of the playoffs.
It was Fan Appreciation Night at the Bell Centre, with the Canadiens playing their final home game of the regular season, so maybe that had something to do with the decision. But Price also wanted to play, not wanting to go a week without any game action with the playoff series slated to start Wednesday at the Bell Centre.
“You can’t play scared,” Price said after the game. “I just wanted to make sure that I wasn’t sitting around too long and trying to stay in a rhythm.”
Price won’t make the trip to Detroit for the Canadiens’ final regular-season game Saturday night against the Red Wings (7 p.m., SN, TVA Sports, TSN Radio 690) with Charlie Lindgren getting the start and Al Montoya as the backup. Captain Max Pacioretty, Alexander Radulov and Andrei Markov also won’t make the trip and neither will Shea Weber nor Alexei Emelin, both recovering from lower-body injuries.
Price finishes the regular season with a 37-20-5 record, a 2.23 goals-against average and a .923 save percentage.
Before the game, he was presented with the Molson Cup as player of the year, marking the seventh time the goaltender has received the award.
“It’s cool … hopefully I get a couple of free beers," Price said with a grin.
After the morning skate, Julien was asked how he would explain playing Price if the goaltender ended up getting injured during the game.
“We can play safe, ultrasafe, and then you could have a goaltender who says: ‘Listen, you know what, I don’t want to sit out for a whole week, OK? It’s important for me to be on top of my game,’ ” Julien responded.
“So you got to make those tough decisions sometimes. They’re not easy and we’ll always look at hindsight, right? If everything goes well tonight and he plays well, we win a game and he’s good, then the plan went as according.”
The Canadiens didn’t win, but that didn’t matter in the master plan.
While the team headed to Detroit after the game, Price was asked how he would spend his night in Montreal.
“I’m going to go home and try to rest up," he said.
“That’s the idea for staying behind. Try and get a good night’s sleep or at least two of them.”
Pacioretty admitted the thought of injuries can creep into players’ heads when they’re playing games that are meaningless in the standings.
“I’m not going to say I’m really superstitious, but when it gets brought up, it’s obviously in the back of your mind a little bit,” said the captain, who received the Jean Béliveau Trophy before the game from the late Hall of Famer’s wife Élise as the player who best exemplifies leadership qualities in the community.
“Not to use anything as an excuse, we got to be better than we were tonight. But it’s not like that wasn’t mentioned ever. I think it’s more a matter of never letting your guard down because that’s when stuff like that could happen. So that’s the way it’s been mentioned and I completely agree with it.”
Pacioretty, who was held pointless against the Lightning, finishes the regular season with 35 goals, 32 assists and 67 points, leading the team in goals and points.
One player who looked like he was playing not to get injured against the Lightning was Alex Galchenyuk, who finished minus-2 in 12:16 of ice time with zero shots on goal.
Julien said during his post-game news conference that Galchenyuk simply needs to be better in the playoffs and his effort level needs to increase. Galchenyuk has only one goal in his last 17 games while losing his job as the No. 1 centre to Phillip Danault.
The Canadiens couldn’t provide a win on Fan Appreciation Night, but Price did have a post-game message for Habs Nation.
“Just thanks for everything this season,” the goalie said. “Obviously excited for the playoffs and looking forward to a positive playoffs.”
A healthy Price is the most positive news this team — and its fans — can get.