The Montreal Canadiens were without Carey Price for almost the entire season.
The star goaltender finally returned to the lineup on April 15th to make his season debut, stopping 17 of 19 shots in a 2-0 loss to the New York Islanders. Since then, Price has played a total of four games, losing to the Minnesota Wild, Philadelphia Flyers and Ottawa Senators.
He looked pretty sharp in his first two games, especially considering he hadn’t played hockey at all since July. However, his last two outings were not as great, as he allowed six goals to both the Flyers and Senators. He is sporting a 4.04 GAA and a .853 SV% in his four games this season.
The 34 year old has been out of the lineup since playing a major role in the Habs Stanley Cup Final run last summer. He had surgery on his knee shortly after the season ended and suffered a few setbacks before finally getting into game action just over a week ago.
Price seemed fine, health wise, after his four games, but the team announced this evening the veteran is not playing tonight and will not travel with the team to New York when they take on the Rangers on Wednesday evening at Madison Square Garden.
He did suit up for the team’s three most recent games, all within a five day span. So, it would make sense that he wouldn’t play tonight anyway, considering he was in goal last night. But, the team also announced Price will not be playing on Wednesday which is a bit concerning.
They were willing to play him for the third time in five days just yesterday, so they aren’t just giving him rest like they suggest. Clearly, something wasn’t 100% after last night’s game and the team decided to shut him down for a few days. They aren’t calling it a setback, but what else do you call not playing a game on Wednesday after the team has two days off?
In Price’s absence, the team has recalled Cayden Primeau on an emergency basis.
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