Goaltender Carey Price will miss the Montreal Canadiens game against the Toronto Maple Leafs on Saturday with a lower-body injury, coach Michel Therrien told reporters Friday.
It will be Price's third straight game out of uniform since returning from his gold-medal win with Canada at the 2014 Sochi Olympics.
Therrien said Price will accompany the Canadiens on a four-game, western road trip next week and should be back playing soon.
"It's day-to-day," Therrien told reporters after an optional practice. "We shouldn't make it sound worse than it is. One thing's for sure, when Carey comes back he'll be 100 percent. It's pointless at this point in the season to put him in, even if it's a very important time of the year. He wouldn't be able to play. We’re confident that with treatment he'll come back pretty soon."
The Canadiens collected three of a possible four points at home against the Detroit Red Wings and on the road against the Pittsburgh Penguins on Wednesday and Thursday with backup Peter Budaj in goal. He was solid in a 2-1 overtime loss to Detroit but allowed five goals in a 6-5 shootout win a night later in Pittsburgh.
Budaj will get his third straight start against Toronto.
"Obviously when you let in five goals it's not the best night for you or for the team in general, and when you score five goals on the road you should get a W in regulation," Budaj said. "There are a couple of goals I'd like to get back, but that's behind me."
Price aggravated an injury he had been nursing while playing for Canada in Sochi, where he was named by the International Ice Hockey Federation directorate as the tournament's top goaltender with a 5-0 record, 0.59 goals-against average and .972 save percentage.
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