Skip navigation
Favorites
Sign up to follow your favorites on all your devices.
Sign up

Goalie nods: Carey Price looks to break out of his slump

Colorado Avalanche v Montreal Canadiens

MONTREAL, QC - DECEMBER 10: Carey Price #31 of the Montreal Canadiens looks on during the NHL game against the Colorado Avalanche at the Bell Centre on December 10, 2016 in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. The Montreal Canadiens defeated the Colorado Avalanche 10-1. (Photo by Minas Panagiotakis/Getty Images)

Getty Images

Carey Price had his worst game of the season on Thursday night when he voluntarily remained in the game to allow seven goals in a blowout loss to the Minnesota Wild.

Perhaps even more surprising than that individual game is the fact that Price has been going through a bit of a slump for quite a few weeks now.

It is one thing to have an off night and get lit up for a bunch of goals. It happens to even the best goalies in the league, including Price. But the Canadiens are not used to Price going through the type of extended slump he has been experiencing recently.

Going back to Dec. 22 Price has managed only an .881 save percentage in his past seven starts, winning only two of them.

If you look at his numbers all the way back to the start of December, he is at .891 over a stretch of 15 starts that has easily been his worst stretch of play over the past three seasons.

It is a testament to the way the Canadiens have played in front of Price during that stretch that they have managed to win as many games as they have. If you want to be an optimist in Montreal, it might also be a very good sign. Price has been elevating the Canadiens on his own going all the way back to the start of the 2014-15 season and if they were ever going to become serious contenders they needed the team in front of him to play better to be able to win games when Price isn’t necessarily at his best. They are doing that right now. You also have to assume that Price is going to play his way out of this funk and get back to the level we are used to seeing from him. That, plus the improved play of the team in front of him, could make the Canadiens an extremely difficult team to beat.

Maybe that clunker against Minnesota was the rock bottom moment for Price and this recent slump. He gets a chance to get things going back in the right direction on Saturday night against the New York Rangers.

The Rangers have not announced their starter but after Henrik Lundqvist played on Friday, it could be an Antti Raanta night.

Elsewhere...

-- In the afternoon games it was Tuukka Rask and Michal Neuvirth for the Bruins and Flyers, and Pekka Rinne vs. Semyon Varlamov in the Predators-Avalanche game.

-- Joonas Korpisalo is the likely starter for the Blue Jackets again on Saturday when they take on the Florida Panthers. It will be just one night after stopping 31 out of 32 shots in his season debut. No word yet on the Panthers’ starter.

-- Curtis McElhinney is expected to make his Maple Leafs debut on Saturday, but there was some concern he might miss it after Garrett Sparks was called up from the AHL on an emergency basis. At this point McElhinney is still expected to go. The Senators will counter with Mike Condon who is looking to win his third straight in a row. He stopped 29 out of 30 shots against the Penguins on Thursday night.

-- Marc-Andre Fleury goes for the Penguins in their final visit to Joe Louis Arena. Fleury, of course, was the winning goalie of Game 7 of the 2009 Stanley Cup Final in that building. The Red Wings counter with rookie Jared Coreau who will be making his first start at home.

-- Thomas Greiss continues his new role as the New York Islanders’ starting goalie when they take on the Carolina Hurricanes. No announcement yet from the Hurricanes, but Cam Ward started on Friday and stopped 36 of 38 shots in the win over the Buffalo Sabres.

-- Louis Domingue goes for the Coyotes against the Anaheim Ducks. He has taken the loss in five of his past six decisions. The Ducks have not yet announced their starter.

-- Devan Dubnyk is expected to get the night off for Minnesota before its big game with Chicago on Sunday, which means you should look for Darcy Kuemper to go for the Wild against the Dallas Stars. The Stars are going with Antti Niemi.

-- Peter Budaj will be in net again for the Los Angeles Kings when they host the Winnipeg Jets. No word yet from the Jets.

-- In the Battle of Alberta it is Brian Elliott going for Calgary and, of course, Cam Talbot for Edmonton. This will be Talbot’s league-leading 40th appearance of the season.

-- The Blues are giving the start to Carter Hutton in San Jose in a rematch of the most recent Western Conference Final. The Sharks are going with their regular starter, Martin Jones as he looks to increase his personal winning streak to three consecutive games.