Two years ago, Carey Price captured the Vezina Trophy as the NHL’s top netminder.
Last year, Braden Holtby won the award.
As such, the obvious narrative has been set for tonight’s Caps-Habs game from the Bell Centre in Montreal -- it promises to be a quality netminding affair, as two of the league’s best go head-to-head.
Holtby is coming off a terrific week, in which he was named the NHL’s third star. He posted back-to-back shutouts against the Blue Jackets and Senators, stopping all 59 shots faced, and now boasts an impressive .931 save percentage on the year.
Price hasn’t been to shabby lately either.
The ’15 Hart Trophy winner has emerged victorious in his first two starts of January, allowing just four goals on 59 shots. That’s pushed his save percentage to .930 on the year -- just behind Holtby for fifth among NHL netminders.
Elsewhere...
-- Roberto Luongo returns from a brief injury absence as the Panthers take on the Devils in New Jersey. He’ll be up against his old Canucks teammate, Cory Schneider.
-- After a very strong outing against Vancouver on Saturday (28 saves on 29 shots, for the win), Chad Johnson gets a second straight start for the Flames in Winnipeg. He’ll be up against Connor Hellebuyck, who allowed four goals on 36 shots in a loss to Buffalo on Saturday.
-- Kari Lehtonen, yanked in a loss to St. Louis over the weekend, appears to be back in goal when the Stars take on the Kings. No word yet on a Los Angeles starter.