Montreal Canadiens: Carey Price is on the hunt for another milestone
By Omar L
The Montreal Canadiens are looking for their fourth win in a row and Carey Price can further establish himself in the record books with that result.
The 2017/18 season was a tough one for the Montreal Canadiens and Carey Price. The team was losing games, and it appeared he had lost faith with the fanbase that felt so strongly about him since he was drafted in 2005. However, he walked out of games in the latter half of the season with no doubt in his mind of how Habs fans felt about him.
A lot of that reassurance came during his 557th career start as a member of the Montreal Canadiens. It surpassed Jacques Plante‘s record, and as the years go by in Montreal, Price will continue to run up the number. The organization honoured the 31-year-old with a well-done video tribute followed by a standing ovation from the thousands of fans at Bell Centre.
Fast forward to this season so far, and Price is back to the goaltender the NHL knew he was. And to make things better, there will be an opportunity for him to further rank himself in the history books of the Habs franchise.
With a win in tonight’s game against the Ottawa Senators, Price can tie Patrick Roy‘s record for second most wins in franchise history at 289. The BC native is usually tame about these kinds of things, but he opened up a little with John Lu mentioning how it was an important dream of his to be as good as one of the great Habs goaltenders in Roy.
#Habs Price doesn’t often look backward, but he did about prospect of tying & passing Patrick Roy for 2nd in franchise Ws: “That’s what I dreamt of when I was a kid — was being like Patrick — and, obviously, to make it this far in my career is definitely something I’m proud of.”
— John Lu (@JohnLuTSNWpg) October 19, 2018
It’s set in stone the impact Roy had on the Habs in his time as their starting goaltender. The entire team came together and defied the odds to win the Stanley Cup back in 1993, but the performance and numbers Roy put up each game in the playoffs were incredible. Price hasn’t had the opportunity to duplicate that level of success yet, but reaching Roy’s level in wins is special.
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Montreal has been dialled into every game so far this season, and it would be surprising to see them let up for this one. The team didn’t have a morning skate, but we can assume the lines and pairings will be similar to what was seen against the St. Louis Blues.
The only difference being Tomas Plekanec who will be out at least two weeks with a lower-back injury. Victor Mete likely remains out of the lineup as he continues to recover from his hand injury leaving Karl Alzner on the blueline. The only mystery is who plays on the left of Matthew Peca.
Nicolas Deslauriers is clear to play healing from a facial fracture. Claude Julien could choose to go for a heavy model on the fourth line with him and Andrew Shaw. Charles Hudon has had his moments of underwhelming efforts and with the accountability on the team being at an all-time high this year, it could see him made a healthy scratch.
Speed is going to be the key, but the Montreal Canadiens shouldn’t have a problem with that. Both Montreal and Ottawa have benefitted from team speed and a hard forecheck so much so that a goaltending battle may ensue between Price and Craig Anderson.
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The Habs can make it four-in-a-row if they can do away with Ottawa further establishing themselves in the Atlantic Division. It’s safe to say, there’s a lot to play for.