The Montreal Canadiens held on to top the New York Rangers 5-4 on Saturday night, giving the lowly club two victories in their last three games. After it strung together a seven-game losing streak, it was certainly a step in the right direction.
There were a lot of takeaways from the victory. First and foremost, the Canadiens once again proved they can produce offense. For the second time in three games, the team punched five goals past the opposing netminder, after crushing the Florida Panthers 5-1 on Tuesday night.
On the other end, however, Carey Price continued to struggle to keep pucks out of the net. While he picked up his third victory, he still conceded four goals on 26 shots.
It was the sixth time in 10 games and the fifth time in his last six outings that he has given up at least four goals. Early on, Price is rocking a 3.64 goals-against average and a .883 save percentage.
His poor play is even more surprising given that October has historically been the month he's played his best hockey, especially over the past four seasons.
| Year | Record | Goals-against average | Save percentage |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2016-17 | 5-0-0 | 1.40 | .954 |
| 2015-16 | 7-2-0 | 2.01 | .936 |
| 2014-15 | 7-1-1 | 2.48 | .920 |
| 2013-14 | 6-5-0 | 2.02 | .939 |
Sure, the players in front of him certainly deserve some of the blame, but the Canadiens have also - through their 3-7-1 start - allowed the fourth-fewest shots per game (28.8) and have been among the league's best possession teams, ranking third in Corsi For with a 54.4 mark.
Further to that, Price has the 32nd-ranked low-danger save percentage and high-danger save percentage (at all strengths) among all 33 goalies who have played at least five games this season.
Going forward, the Canadiens will need to prove they can still score at a more consistent clip. Though they scored five goals on both Tuesday and Saturday, they were shut out 4-0 by the Los Angeles Kings on Thursday. And prior to their five-goal outing against Florida, they only scored 13 goals in their previous eight games.
Price is unlikely to remain as poor as he has been to kick off the year. There's a reason he's a Hart and Vezina Trophy winner. But if he doesn't get things sorted out soon, it might not matter how much the offense improves.
(Advanced stats courtesy: First Line Stats and Corsica)
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