Montreal Canadiens: Gallagher and Price Ready for Game One

The Laval Rocket played their last game of the season last night, in which Carey Price and Brendan Gallagher both played on long-term injury conditioning loans from the Montreal Canadiens.

Gallagher hasn’t played with the Montreal Canadiens since Apr. 5, when he broke his thumb in a game against the Edmonton Oilers, and Price’s last game with the Habs was on Apr. 19, when he got a concussion– also while facing the Oilers.

Price was originally only supposed to play in the first half of the game, but ended up playing for 40 minutes. When the whistle was blown towards the end of the second period for a Toronto Marlies powerplay, Cayden Primeau was supposed to come in, but Price thought it was best for them if he just finished the period.

He allowed two goals early on in the game, in total letting in two goals on 15 shots. But, no one expected him to be perfect after not playing for almost a month. Although he wasn’t really tested, he looked a lot more confident and better as the game went on.

According to the Rocket’s Head Coach Joël Bouchard, Gallagher played for about 17 minutes (he probably would’ve played more if it weren’t for his four-minute high-sticking penalty). The right-winger played on the second line with left-winger Rafael Harvey-Pinard and center Jordan Weal.

Gallagher had many scoring chances but wasn’t able to capitalize. The important part, though, is that he was giving it everything he had.

He also looked healthy: fighting for the puck, taking and delivering hits, and overall not being afraid to play the way he usually does.

He might not have been able to get pucks into the net, and Price might not have looked as sharp as usual, but after having played a game, nothing stops them from getting back to their game in the playoffs.

After all, Gallagher and Price were sent to play in this game to get the rust out and get ready to give it their 110 per cent on Thursday against the Toronto Maple Leafs.