Montreal Canadiens: Another Reason for Carey Price’s Injury

MONTREAL, QC - NOVEMBER 10: Carey Price
MONTREAL, QC - NOVEMBER 10: Carey Price

We know that Carey Price will miss the next game for the Montreal Canadiens due to injury, but perhaps there is another reason for the time off.

There was a handful of news coming from the Montreal Canadiens yesterday. Their AHL affiliate named Byron Froese its first captain in team history and fans may finally get what they’ve wanted all season in a Jonathan Drouin, Alex Galchenyuk and Artturi Lehkonen line. Then there was the announcement of Carey Price receiving treatment from staff during practice and the eventual learning of his injury.

Price + lower-body injury are two words Habs fans hate to see in the same sentence. It was a lower-body injury (knee) that took the goaltender out of the 2014 Eastern Conference Final after the Chris Krieder collision. Additionally, lower-body injuries (knee again) had Price only play in 12 games during the 2015-16 regular season.

No further details have been given as to what the injury is except that it’s ‘minor’. That hasn’t stopped people from racking their brains on the situation.

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The new narrative surrounds the development of this injury. When did it start? How long has Price been suffering from this ailment? The ‘minor’ aspect of it could hint that it may have occurred during the game or at some point before, but wasn’t bad enough to take Price out.

However, you have to think of whether this may be an opportunity taken by the Montreal Canadiens to give Price more time to rest.

Time to Heal

As we all know, Price’s struggles have been a long-going thing. The 30-year-old has played in the last five games for the Habs giving up 20 goals while having a .868 save percentage. Price got some time to rest on Monday when Al Montoya got the start in net. Playing that many games in a row can be a grind, but you have to think his performance was part of it.

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His first game back didn’t seem to change things as Price didn’t look engaged for portions of it. He’s battling through something, we just don’t know what. Perhaps this ‘minor injury’ might be the Habs allowing Price to sit without the additional stigma.

Things are bad enough in Montreal, especially after the team lost again to Minnesota. Price getting slapped with a healthy scratch sign would make things significantly worse.

Whatever time the Habs starter misses will be nothing but good for the team. A physical and mental reset is what Price needs. He had slightly similar 13-game slump last season where he had a .882 save percentage and gave up 41 goals. Price broke out of that slump and helped the Habs win the Atlantic Division. He’ll be better, he just needs time to heal.

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Do you think Price just needs a reset? Let us know your thoughts down below.