The Montreal Canadiens will have to call up one of Charlie Lindgren or Michael McNiven with Carey Price serving his one-game suspension. Who should it be?
The Montreal Canadiens made the right decision in having Carey Price sit out of the NHL All-Star Game. Youppi! ended up being the only Habs representative down in San Jose but at least Price got to take some time off to rest ahead of the second half. And thanks to the NHL’s rule, the 31-year-old will get even more time before he gets to play.
Price chose to play the last game ahead of the break against the Arizona Coyotoes. Therefore he’ll be forced to sit out of Saturday’s New Jersey match. Not too much of a problem as Antti Niemi has given the Habs quality starts since joining the organization. The only question is who will they recall to back him up.
Whoever is the choice likely misses both Laval Rocket games. That’ll be important as they’re against the Toronto Marlies who Laval is five points behind in the standings.
Lindgren is the better of the two goaltenders and has NHL experience after jumping up to play games for the Habs last season when Price was out with injury. McNiven, on the other hand, is improving from a poor start to the year and recently had a 38-save shutout against the Cleaveland Monsters. Additionally, Montreal recalled McNiven to back up Niemi earlier in the year, but he never got a chance to play.
Do you consider Laval’s situation in this choice? Lindgren gives you a strong chance to succeed in those two Toronto games, but McNiven should be able to handle both match ups. At the same time, Claude Julien will want someone he can trust in net in case anything happens during the game.
It looks like the win goes to Lindgren here.
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