It has been a pretty wild week for Montreal Canadiens goalie Carey Price.
First, he avoided supplemental discipline from the league when he lost his cool and started to beat up New Jersey’s Kyle Palmieri following an encounter in the goal crease.
Then, on Friday night, he was pulled from a game for the first time since 2014 when he was benched after giving up four goals on only 18 shots in a 4-2 loss to the San Jose Sharks. His reaction on the way to the bench received a little bit of attention.
As should be expected, the Canadiens are going right back to their best player on Saturday night when the team takes on the Washington Capitals. If recent history is any indicator, you should expect a big bounce back game from Price.
Friday’s game was only the 10th time since the start of the 2014-15 season that Price faced at least 18 shots in a game and finished with a save percentage lower than .850. He has a combined .940 save percentage (251 saves on 267 shots) in the starts that have followed those performances. He is the best goalie in hockey, but he is still human and can still have an off night from time to time.
It is very rare for him to have two in a row.
The Canadiens are probably going to need him to be strong on Saturday against a Capitals team that has won six games in a row.
The Capitals will be starting Braden Holtby in net, making this a matchup of the past two Vezina Trophy winners.
Elsewhere...
-- In the afternoon games Steve Mason went for the Flyers on Saturday afternoon as he tried to help the team extend its winning streak to 11 games. He was opposed by Antti Niemi in the Dallas crease. Mike Smith and Darcy Kuemper went for the Coyotes and Wild.
-- Cam Ward goes again for the Hurricanes after he started on Friday night in a shootout loss to the Washington Capitals, stopping 23 out of 26 shots. Look for Robin Lehner to go at the other end of the ice for the Buffalo Sabres.
-- After stopping 31 shots on Thursday in a win over the Boston Bruins, Jonathan Bernier gets the call again for the Anaheim Ducks when they visit the slumping Detroit Red Wings. Petr Mrazek gets the start for a Detroit team that is just 8-12-4 in its past 24 games and has won only two games in regulation during that stretch.
-- With Cory Schneider going through a little bit of a slump and the Devils playing again on Sunday against the New York Rangers Keith Kinkaid goes for them on Saturday against the Ottawa Senators. Kinkaid has a .920 save percentage in his seven appearances for the Devils this season. Mike Condon goes for the Senators. He has given up 10 goals in his past three appearances on just 61 shots (only an .836 save percentage).
-- Frederik Andersen gets the start for the Toronto Maple Leafs when they host the defending Stanley Cup Champion Pittsburgh Penguins. The Penguins have yet to announce their starter for Saturday night, but with Matt Murray starting five consecutive games, including their 1-0 overtime loss to the Los Angeles Kings on Friday night, you should expect to see Marc-Andre Fleury get the start in this one.
-- Corey Crawford is back skating for the Chicago Blackhawks, but he is still not quite yet ready to play. That means Scott Darling gets another start when the Blackhawks visit the St. Louis Blues. He has won four of his past five starts, helping the team get nine out of a possible 10 points during that stretch. The Blues are going with Jake Allen.
-- Nashville goes with Juuse Saros when the Predators host Jimmy Vesey (originally drafted by the Predators but did not sign) and the New York Rangers. No word yet from the Rangers, but Henrik Lundqvist seems to be the likely starter.
-- Ben Bishop is expected to get the start for the Tampa Bay Lightning when they visit the Edmonton Oilers. Cam Talbot, as he has done for almost the entire season, goes for the Oilers. Talbot is facing a massive workload this season and is already playing in his 29th game. Talbot leads all NHL goalies in appearances, shots faced, and minutes played.