Is this Price Right?

 Carey Price

 

The million-dollar question being asked in Montreal all day Tuesday was who would Montreal Canadiens’ coach Guy Carbonneau put in net for game four Wednesday night against the Philadelphia Flyers? For much of the first round against the Boston Bruins, the Canadiens’ young rookie sensation Carey Price was the toast of the town as he was silencing all the arm chair general managers who were second guessing Habs general manager Bob Gainey for trading veteran net minder Cristobal Huet at the deadline. Price who won 23 games this season for Montreal and played a major role in leading Montreal to an Eastern Conference first place finish, and a first round victory over Boston, has been struggling badly in the last two games against the Philadelphia Flyers. Playing game three in the Wachovia Center, Price couldn’t get into a grove as he allowed 3 goals, including two he should have stopped on just a dozen shots before getting pulled for backup Jaroslav Halak for the third in what was a 3-2 loss that left Montreal trailing 2-1 in their series.

“He is rattled,” assessed coach Carbonneau of his goalie. “He’s 20 years-old and you can’t forget about that.”

Carbonneau, whose team outplayed Philadelphia in registering 34 shots, admitted that no decisions have been made regarding who will play game four, but said that before a decision is made he will talk “softly” with Price before deciding who to go with. “We’re trying to ask this kid to be a saviour for our club. But we had a 5-on-3 for two minutes,” said the coach in deflecting the pressure from his goalie. We had our five best players on the ice and maybe we should blame them also.  Everybody is to blame, not just one guy.” Still, if a team is to be successful in the playoffs, the goalie has to be their best player and so far against the Flyers, Price has a dismal .853 save percentage. Canadiens goalie coach and former NHL net minder Roland Melanson believes that Price might have hit a wall in terms of feeling fatigue in playing so much hockey during the year. According to his teammates, no one has lost faith in Price and what he can do. “He’s shown he can bounce back, so that’s not a concern for us,” said Captain Saku Koivu. Price, who was sensational in leading the Hamilton Bulldogs to an American Hockey League Championship win last spring, should get the start for Wednesday’s critical game. Giving the nod to Price despite the recent struggles will give him confidence in knowing that no matter what, the team is leaning on him to be the guy no matter what.

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