With a storied franchise like Montreal, records don’t get set very often.
Which made Thursday night pretty special.
For the first time in franchise history the Habs are off to a 5-0 start, courtesy a 3-0 win over the Rangers at the Bell Centre.
Carey Price stopped all 24 shots faced for his first shutout of the year, continuing a string of impressive play which has seen him record four wins in four tries this season, not allowing more than two goals in a single outing.
One of those 24 saves, of course, was the jaw-dropper on Rick Nash in the video above.
Not bad.
Price wasn’t the only Canadien with a strong performance on the night. Tomas Fleischmann potted the game-winner midway through the middle frame -- his second goal of the year -- while Dale Weise and Tomas Plekanec added the insurance markers, the latter an empty-netter.
For the Rangers, tonight’s game marks the second in a row where the offense sputtered.
The club wasted a great effort from Henrik Lundqvist (29 saves on 31 shots) and now has just one goal over its last 120 minutes, scored way back in the first period of Tuesday’s loss to Winnipeg.
Of course, that lack of offensive output isn’t all on New York.
They’ve faced some good goaltending over the last two games, starting with Michael Hutchinson two nights ago and continuing with Price this evening.
As for Montreal, the club is riding a high.
Price is playing up to his usual high standards, the offense is being spread around nicely (eight different players have scored now) and history bodes well. Per CBC, the last three Montreal teams to start the year 4-0 went on to win the Stanley Cup -- so in that light, this 5-0 start could be the beginning of something special.