CANADIENS
Montreal

2-1

PREDATORS
Nashville

Game Notes:

Welcome back Carey.  Carey Price returned to the Canadiens goal after two straight game from Dustin Tokarski with an unflattering 4.00 goals against average. Price was thrown to the wolves alone for the first 30 minutes of game as the Predators outshot the Canadiens 25-4. Price finished the game with 36 saves and a sparking .973 save percentage against one of the league’s top teams.  The goal he allowed was a blast from the stick of Seth Jones that was tipped by Mike Ribeiro. Price was without his stick on the play.

The Canadiens goaltender is making a strong case for both the Vezina and Hart trophies this season.

Net presence.  Following the Ribeiro goal, the Canadiens came to life using their speed to generate chances. For the last half of the game Montreal outshot Nashville 23-12 but were making Carter Hutton look good, a goalie who has only won one game this season.  But the Canadiens were clicking again with the man advantage going two for three.  Since the adjustments to the power-play, Montreal is 7 for 18, that’s a 39 per cent clip. Both Habs goals were scored with a player in front of the net.

Up next. For Carey Price, he has earned a trip to the All-Star game. Jiri Sekac will be along to participate in the skills competition as a rookie replacing the Kings Tanner Pearson. For the rest of the Canadiens it is a week off, next hitting the Bell Centre ice for a game against the Dallas Stars next Tuesday January 27th. After 45 games Montreal has 61 points for fourth place in the Eastern conference. The Penguins, just two points back will have a chance to move closer on Wednesday as they face the Blackhawks.

Plus / Minus

▲▲  Carey Price

▲    Alex Galchenyuk, P.K. Subban, Tomas Plekanec, Andrei Markov

▼    Nathan Beaulieu

1.  Carey Price  MTL
2.  Seth Jones  NSH
3.  P.K. Subban  MTL

• “[Carey Price] gave us a chance to win. He kept us in the game, and he’s a world-class player, so if it was not the quality of goaltending of Carey Price it probably would have ended up to be a different result. But he kept us in the game, gave us a chance to regroup and find our game, and [we] ended up winning the hockey game.”
• “Of course it was a penalty (Craig Smith tripping Lars Eller in overtime.) I don’t know what [Peter Laviolette] is complaining about.”
• “P.K. (Subban) took charge tonight. He was very involved in the game, like the last one; I thought he was really good again tonight.”

Carey Price

• “You don’t want to be looking up at the score clock halfway through the game and seeing four shots on net.”
• “[The All-Star game] is going to be fun. Obviously going to a golf course in Florida would be nice, but at the same time it’s a privilege to go to the All-Star Game, it’s a privilege to represent your team and I’m happy to go.”

Alex Galchenyuk

• “If it wasn’t for Carey (Price), we wouldn’t be talking about the win. He stood on his head. That’s why he’s going to the All-Star Game. He played unbelievable.”
• “At the end of the day, it’s always nice to win, no matter how you play. It’s a nice comeback. You can go home with two points. It was especially big before the break. Now, we have a lot of time to rest up.”

Predators forward Mike Ribeiro

• “Don’t make a call and then when they show it on the screen and people boo and you decide to reverse the call.”
• “It’s frustrating to lose a game, but it is even more so when the referees stole the match.”

Predators defenseman Shea Weber

• “I thought we had a great game. Didn’t get the results, didn’t get the goals, but we came out strong and put a lot of attempts at them.  We did some good things, and that’s the way it goes sometimes. You can’t win ’em all, obviously. (Carey) Price played well and they scored when it mattered on the power play, so it is what it is now.”

Predators coach Peter Laviolette

• “Our guys battled their hearts out. It’s disappointing to lose a game that way.”
• “I don’t think the last penalty was a penalty at all. Our guy had a heavy stick. There was no tripping.”