BROSSARD, Quebec -- The Montreal Canadiens have been in this situation before, except the stakes were not nearly as high.

Carey Price returned from representing Canada at the 2014 Sochi Olympics with a gold medal around his neck as well as a lower-body injury.

The Canadiens said at the time that Price aggravated a previous injury at the Olympics and that his absence would not last very long.

It wound up being two weeks.

In Price's absence, Peter Budaj was called upon to carry the load during a very difficult stretch of eight games; six of the opponents qualified for the Stanley Cup Playoffs this season.

Budaj started seven of those eight games and won two, neither in regulation, and put up a 3.51 goals-against average and .868 save percentage.

Price's injury led the Canadiens to call up Dustin Tokarski from the Hamilton Bulldogs of the American Hockey League, and he got one start in that stretch, making 39 saves in regulation and overtime and stopping four of six attempts in the shootout in a 4-3 Canadiens win on the road against the Anaheim Ducks.

Price returned from his injury at home against the Ottawa Senators on March 15, when the Canadiens erased a 4-1 deficit in the final 3:22 of regulation to win 5-4 in overtime. Montreal had a game a day later on the road against the Buffalo Sabres and coach Michel Therrien decided to leave Price at home to recover.

Instead of going with Budaj, Therrien chose to start Tokarski and was rewarded with a 29-save shutout in a 2-0 win, the first NHL shutout of Tokarski's career.

Fast-forward two months and Therrien was faced with the same decision for Game 2 of the Eastern Conference Final at Bell Centre on Monday (8 p.m. ET; NBCSN, CBC, RDS) with the New York Rangers leading the best-of-7 series 1-0.

Granted, this is nowhere near the same situation as a late-season game in Buffalo, but perhaps Therrien's call March 16 was an indicator of what was to come Monday.

According to multiple reports, Therrien has chosen to go with Tokarski.

With Price lost for at least the duration of the series, the decision facing Therrien ahead of Game 2 was not an enviable one.

Budaj has been Price's backup all season, and one might have guessed that would put him in the driver's seat to start Game 2. However, his playoff history is quite weak.

In seven career playoff games with the Colorado Avalanche and the Canadiens, Budaj is 0-2 with a 5.13 GAA and .843 save percentage. He has allowed 10 goals on 39 shots (.744 save percentage) in three playoff games with the Canadiens.

Then there's Tokarski, who never has played in an NHL playoff game and has 10 regular-season starts under his belt. But he has a solid history as a big-game goalie.

Tokarski was the MVP of the 2008 Memorial Cup when he helped lead the Spokane Chiefs of the Western Hockey League to the championship, making 53 saves in a hostile environment in the final to defeat the host Kitchener Rangers of the Ontario Hockey League.

Tokarski was the starting goaltender for Canada the following season at the 2009 IIHF World Junior Championship and helped that team win the gold medal, stopping 39 of 40 shots in a 5-1 win against Sweden in the championship game.

Tokarski also has 20 games of AHL playoff experience, including 14 in 2012 to help lead the Norfolk Admirals to the Calder Cup. In those 14 games, he went 12-2 with a 1.46 GAA and .944 save percentage.

Therrien has apparently decided to go with the big-game pedigree of Tokarski over the veteran poise of Budaj.

It has come to this for the Canadiens.

PETER BUDAJ	DUSTIN TOKARSKI
Age: 31 NHL experience: 296 regular-season games in nine seasons; 124-107-36, 2.76 GAA, .903 save percentage This season: 24 games, 10-8-3, 2.51 GAA, .909 save percentage, one shutout Stanley Cup Playoff experience: 7 games, 0-2, 5.13 GAA, .843 save percentage Why he should start: An experienced veteran, Budaj should be poised to handle the enormous pressure facing him and the Canadiens in the series. He's a very popular player in the Canadiens dressing room and the team likely would rally around him.	Age: 24 NHL experience: 10 regular-season games in three seasons; 3-3-1, 2.93 GAA, .902 save percentage This season: Three games, 2-0-0, 1.84 GAA, .946 save percentage, one shutout Stanley Cup Playoff experience: no games Why he should start: With a sparkling championship pedigree, what Tokarski lacks in NHL experience he compensates for with a solid track record of winning. He also would be an unknown commodity to the Rangers, a serious curveball at this stage of the playoffs.