BROSSARD, Que. — On Monday, Montreal Canadiens goaltender Carey Price took the next step in his recovery by handling shots from goaltending coach Stephane Waite for the first time since suffering a lower-body injury October 29.
Price, who was on the ice before his teammates participated in an optional morning skate ahead of their game with the Vancouver Canucks (7-6-5), practised for 35 minutes.
“He’s progressing, we’re glad,” said Canadiens coach Michel Therrien. “But this is too early to talk about a comeback. The good news is that he’s progressing well.”
Backup Mike Condon has gone 4-1-2 in Price’s absence, but is coming off a 6-1 loss to the Colorado Avalanche Saturday. He was pulled from the net after allowing four goals on 11 shots.
Condon will get a shot at redemption Monday, against the Canucks, and the Canadiens (13-3-2) will try to avenge the 5-1 loss they suffered in Vancouver October 27.
“The Canucks are obviously a good team, and it’s not easy to play against them,” said Therrien in French. “We all remember what happened in Vancouver. Even if we played a good game, the result wasn’t there. I think our players have that fresh in their memories.”
And if the Canadiens were looking for extra motivation, a quick glance at the NHL standings reveals they’re no longer in first place. Both the New York Rangers and Dallas Stars have pushed ahead.
The Rangers extended their winning streak to nine games, notching points 29 and 30 in a 4-3 win over Toronto Sunday. And the Stars, who are tied with the Canadiens with 28 points in 18 games, hold a 14-13 advantage in regulation-time wins.
“It’s nice being on top, and we’ve worked hard to get up there,” said defenceman Tom Gilbert. “That’s where we want to be.”
Therrien revealed he won’t be making any changes to his lineup. That means defenceman Greg Pateryn will continue in his role next to Gilbert, as Alexei Emelin remains day-to-day with a lower-body injury.
Pateryn, who, on Saturday, appeared in his first game since last year’s Stanley Cup playoffs, recorded a shot, four hits and finished with an even rating.
“I thought he did good the first game, for a guy that hasn’t played much in the NHL,” said Therrien. “I think the [three-game conditioning stint] in the American League helped him. He was decisive, and he was physical at times.”
Forward Alexander Semin, who was scratched for seven straight games, also returned Saturday and joined linemates Alex Galchenyuk and Lars Eller.
Semin failed to record a shot on goal Saturday, and Eller and Galchenyuk have combined for two goals and three assists over their last eight games.
“They gotta play more inside the dots,” said Therrien. “I think that line is a little bit too much on the outside. It’s tough to score goals in the NHL when you’re too much on the outside. We wish that they contribute offensively a little bit more—they know. Hopefully, it’s going to be tonight.”
Semin, Galchenyuk and Eller aren’t the only offensive forwards struggling for the Canadiens.
Captain Max Pacioretty, who got off to the best start of his NHL career with seven goals in his first nine games, has just one goal in his last nine—an empty-netter against Boston on November 7. And linemate Tomas Plekanec, who scored five goals in his first six games, has only managed two goals in his last 12.
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Perhaps matching up against Canucks backup Jacob Markstrom will help the Canadiens scorers unblock. Markstrom, who’s replacing Ryan Miller, has a total of 14 wins in 51 NHL games.
Former Canadien Brandon Prust, who recorded two assists for Vancouver in the October win over Montreal, remains sidelined by an ankle injury. Forward Brandon Sutter and defenceman Luca Sbisa are both injured as well. Alexandre Burrows returned to Vancouver to be with his wife, who’s due to give birth.
It’s confirmed that 2013 first-round pick Hunter Shinkaruk will make his NHL debut for the Canucks after registering 10 goals in 12 games for the AHL’s Utica Comets.
Montreal’s game with Vancouver is scheduled for 7:30pm ET and will air on Sportsnet East.
