Montreal Canadiens: Candidates to make the All-Star Team

His Name is Price, and He’s Right

There were red flags and panic around Carey Price and how he was playing for the Montreal Canadiens early in the season. It seemed like the lower-body injury he sustained was a blessing in disguise.

The mental aspect of the game is just as important as what a player actually does. Price never vocalized this, but it has to be tough not playing at the level he knew he could be at. At the same time, Charlie Lindgren‘s performance with the Habs made the decision to stay out longer easier.

Then he came back, and he was beyond good. Price was Price. Even though Montreal seemed to fall into the same tropes of relying on him to save games for them, you could see that his play was seeping through the rest of the lineup and allowing them to play with more confidence.

Price has a 5-1-0 record, and a .946 save percentage. In that time frame, he’s made some spectacular saves. For example:

https://twitter.com/shaynepasquino/status/936401709320036352

His early struggles may keep Price out of the All-Star weekend, but his recent play should trigger some thought. If he made it this year, it would be his sixth appearance going in 2009, 2011, 2012, 2015, and 2017. It would be nice to see Price there. We don’t get to see him let loose often.