The Montreal Canadiens have done a nice job of keeping themselves alive in the NHL Playoff race without Carey Price, and they got their star goaltender back on Thursday night. They took full advantage of that, as Price made 33 saves in his first game back from injury, and the Canadiens shut out the Vancouver Canucks, 2-0, on their home ice. Price recorded his second shutout of the season and the 42nd of his career, this after recovering from a lower-body injury. In the three games that he missed, Montreal went 2-1-0, with all three games coming away from home. That helped the Canadiens stay close in the Atlantic Division, as they are within a point of the Buffalo Sabres and Boston Bruins in the race for third place.
The Canucks' offense took a big hit as they struggled at the Bell Centre, and they lost forward Elias Petterson to a lower-body injury. The young star left the game with 5:44 to play in the second period, and there is not yet word on the severity of his injury. Vancouver was coming off a 4-3 overtime win over the Ottawa Senators, and got 25 saves from Jacob Markstrom in their 20th loss of the season. They are trying to stay within striking distance of the top three in the Pacific Division, as they now sit seven points out of third place in that division.
The Canadiens got goals from Jordie Benn and Jonathan Drouin, as they have now won four of their past six games, as well as 10 of their past 14 contests. Their young stars on offense have done enough to prove that their hot start was not a fluke, as they remain relevant inching closer to the All-Star break. Meanwhile, Vancouver has now dropped two of their past three games, but are still 9-4-1 over their past 14 games to overcome their slow start.
Vancouver will hope Petterson's injury is nothing serious, as he was coming off his first-career hat trick against Ottawa. He was also just named to his first-career All-Star team on Wednesday. Either way, the Canucks will continue their road trip on Saturday against the Toronto Maple Leafs. Meanwhile, the Canadiens will stay home that same night to host the Nashville Predators, who will be on the second game of a back-to-back.
The Canucks' offense took a big hit as they struggled at the Bell Centre, and they lost forward Elias Petterson to a lower-body injury. The young star left the game with 5:44 to play in the second period, and there is not yet word on the severity of his injury. Vancouver was coming off a 4-3 overtime win over the Ottawa Senators, and got 25 saves from Jacob Markstrom in their 20th loss of the season. They are trying to stay within striking distance of the top three in the Pacific Division, as they now sit seven points out of third place in that division.
The Canadiens got goals from Jordie Benn and Jonathan Drouin, as they have now won four of their past six games, as well as 10 of their past 14 contests. Their young stars on offense have done enough to prove that their hot start was not a fluke, as they remain relevant inching closer to the All-Star break. Meanwhile, Vancouver has now dropped two of their past three games, but are still 9-4-1 over their past 14 games to overcome their slow start.
Vancouver will hope Petterson's injury is nothing serious, as he was coming off his first-career hat trick against Ottawa. He was also just named to his first-career All-Star team on Wednesday. Either way, the Canucks will continue their road trip on Saturday against the Toronto Maple Leafs. Meanwhile, the Canadiens will stay home that same night to host the Nashville Predators, who will be on the second game of a back-to-back.
