Montreal Canadiens: Ranking The Canadian Division’s Goaltenders
Carey Price and Jake Allen
Carey Price was once the undisputed best goaltender in the world. He was winning Hart Trophy’s, Vezina Trophy’s, Ted Lindsay Awards and gold medals at the Olympic Games. Those days are four and five years in the past, but we have some recent examples of terrific work from the Habs starting goaltender as well.
At one time, Price could lead the leagues in games played, minutes and shots faced and it wouldn’t slow him down. Lately, it has become apparent he could use a little breather from time to time.
Price hasn’t had a reliable backup goaltender for years. Keith Kinkaid, Charlie Lindgren and Antti Niemi have all struggled to fill the role in the past few seasons. As a result, Price has been forced to play more minutes than he can handle at his age. He is now 33 years old but he has the most games and minutes played of any goalie in the world over the past two seasons.
This has led to him struggling down the stretch each season. However, after taking a long break due to Covid-19 in the spring, Price returned to the Habs crease in August to face the heavily favoured Pittsburgh Penguins. He was excellent in knocking them off in four games and was up to the task against the Philadelphia Flyers as well, but the Canadiens couldn’t find any offence and lost in six games.
Price had a 1.78 GAA in those ten games and a .936 SV%. He shut the door against the Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin led Penguins in the play-in round and held the Habs in every game against the Flyers as well. A little rest went a long way for Price getting ready and being dominant in that postseason.
Having Jake Allen in town should allow Price to stay rested throughout the season. Allen was with the St. Louis Blue last season and had a 2.15 GAA and a .927 SV% as Jordan Binnington’s backup. Taking on 20 or so starts to give Price sufficient rest all season will ensure Allen stays sharp all season and Price remains at the top of his game.
Next. Caufield's usage shows defensive growth. dark
Either goaltender can steal a game on any given night, and the combination will give the Canadiens the best goaltending tandem in the Canadian Division.