Montreal Canadiens goaltender Carey Price continues to show why he's a top contender for the Hart and Vezina trophies.
Price is 2-0-1 with two shutouts in his past three starts to help the NHL-leading Canadiens reach 100 points for the 18th time, and in consecutive seasons for the first time since 1987-88 and 1988-89. He made 29 saves in a win against the San Jose Sharks on March 21 to become the third Canadiens goalie to win 40 games (Jacques Plante, Ken Dryden and Bill Durnan). He is two from the single-season record accomplished twice by Plante and once by Dryden.
Price's finest moment against the Sharks came with 1:34 remaining in the game. Forward Joe Pavelski's cross-ice pass found forward Logan Couture, whose one-timer hit the knob of Price's stick while Price slid from one end of the crease to the other.
"Once again, Carey was Carey; it's as simple as that," Canadiens coach Michel Therrien said. "He made key saves, particularly at the end, as everyone saw. Carey was Carey."
Price's nine shutouts this season are a career-high and his 34 total ties him with Durnan for fourth in Canadiens history. He leads the League in wins, goals-against average (1.88) and save percentage (.937). Last season, Price had 38 wins and eight shutouts in 72 games (70 starts).
"He's just on another level," Canadiens forward Dale Weise said after a 4-0 win against the Carolina Hurricanes on March 19. "The biggest thing I look at him is his how consistent he is. It's the same every night. He makes big save after big save and game-changing save every single night for us; there's just no goalie in the League that does it like that. He's the backbone of our team and we're going to go as far as he's going to carry us."
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