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The defending Vezina Trophy winner, Carey Price, is set to miss more action than anticipated north of the border.
Price, 7-2-0 and sporting a 2.01 Goal-against-average (GAA), flew out of Montreal to get his lower body injury checked out. The Canadiens are being very mum on the situation, with no news expected to come out about the visit, until the team leaves for Pittsburgh Tuesday morning.
Montreal doesn’t have to worry too much with Price out, as they have GAA leader Mike Condon (6-0-1 1.57 GAA) to back him up.
The backup goalie is playing out of his mind as of late, and is a huge reason why the Canadiens (13-2-1) sit high atop the Atlantic Division standings. They’re the only team in the league to have a double-digit point lead in division standings.
Condon has started all four of the games (3-0-1) Price has missed, and posted a 1.50 goals-against-average and .937 save percentage.
“As a team we understand that it’s not just about our goaltender, it’s about the way we play,” Canadiens Defenseman P.K. Subban said. “We want to play the right way, and if we do that then we shouldn’t ask a lot of our goaltenders. If our goaltender has to make 35, 40, 50 saves a night, then we’re asking too much of him. I don’t care how good the goaltender is.”
That is exactly the mindset the Canadiens need, to support the young goalie. Condon has not had to face more than 30 shots, but once since Price went down. Those last four games he faced; 19, 27, 18, and 31 shots.
“Our job as a team is to make sure we keep the puck, and we play in their end. We don’t want to play in our end. But if we are in our zone, we want to play the right way, and make sure that we’re structurally sound and we’re not giving up key scoring opportunities…” ~ P.K. Subban
In Condon’s seven starts, the Canadiens have supported him with 4.3 goals per game, which has set him up to succeed the way that he has in Montreal. There’s no doubt the team is ready to have Price back, on the regular between the pipes.
“… When Carey comes back obviously he’s a big part of our team moving forward, just like he’s always been. But at the same token this is the Montreal Canadiens, so this organization is built on teams, not on players. So we have a good team, and that’s a big basis of our success right now.” ~Subban
Without knowing exactly when Price’s timetable is to return, their schedule going forward looks to benefit Condon.
Montreal travels to Pittsburgh to face the Penguins on Wednesday night. Then, they have two nights off, before returning to the Bell Centre to host the Colorado Avalanche onSaturday.
It looks as if Condon will get every start up until their next set of back-to-back games. The first of which is Thursday, November 20th at home against Arizona, followed by a trip to New York to face the Islanders, at the Barclays Center.
If Montreal wants to give Carey Price two weeks off to heal up, it looks like they will have the ability to make a push, and give him the to get ready for the holiday schedule.