The Montreal Canadiens season comes to a close tonight with a contest against the Florida Panthers.
It is a battle of two teams literally at the ends of the NHL’s spectrum, as the President’s Trophy winning Panthers will head to the Bell Centre to face the Habs who have clinched the best odds in the draft lottery with their last place finish.
Even though it is the final game of a lost season between the first and 32nd best teams in the league, there is plenty of reason to tune it.
The Canadiens announced earlier today that Carey Price will start the game for the Habs in goal. It will be just the fifth start of the season for the star netminder. He has battled back from offseason knee surgery, and a couple of setbacks along the way, to get into a handful of games here in the month of April.
Price has been nominated for the Bill Masterton Trophy for the dedication he has shown to the game of hockey this season.
He was finally able to make his season debut on April 15th against the New York Islanders. He played well in a 2-0 loss, but it looked like his season might be over last weekend.
Price played against the Ottawa Senators on Saturday night, but instead of traveling with his team to play against the Boston Bruins and New York Rangers earlier this week, he went to New York to visit with his surgeon.
That was just two days ago, but it seemed like good news when Price was seen skating yesterday in Brossard. The fact he was at practice in the starter’s net this morning and was confirmed as tonight’s starter by head coach Martin St. Louis is incredible news.
We really can’t be certain Price will play another healthy season with the Canadiens. So, getting to close out the season in goal at the Bell Centre is a great way to end a lost season.
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