VAN@MTL: Carey! Carey! Carey!

MONTREAL - Carey Price was simply unbeatable on Thursday night.

The Canadiens' starter showed absolutely no signs of the lower-body injury that forced him to miss three straight games, pacing Claude Julien's contingent to a 2-0 win over the Vancouver Canucks at the Bell Centre.
Price turned aside 33 shots to register his second shutout of the season and the 42nd of his career.
He is now just four shutouts shy of tying Hall-of-Famer Ken Dryden for third spot on the Canadiens' all-time shutout list.
Following the contest, Price explained that time spent recovering from the injury left him feeling "rested."
His performance versus Travis Green's squad certainly was strong evidence of that.
"Outstanding. Those glove saves, they make me giggle on the bench, that's for sure. He was solid in there," praised defenseman Jordie Benn, when asked to describe the veteran netminder's game. "Him and Nemo [Antti Niemi], they give us defensemen a lot of confidence. It's nice to see that they're both dialed in."

Price was especially "dialed in" during the middle frame when he made 17 stops, several of which were of the highlight-reel variety.
"Carey was spectacular," praised forward Jonathan Drouin. "He kept us in the game, especially in the second. That's the Carey we know."
For his part, Julien couldn't be happier with the way Price has gone about his business so far this season. The veteran bench boss continues to be amazed by the 31-year-old Anahim Lake, BC native's skill set.
"He's found his game and he's feeling good about it," mentioned Julien. "He missed quite a bit of time, but it didn't look like he was rusty at all tonight. If anything, he looked even sharper. It was all good news for us tonight."

On Wednesday, Price was named to the NHL All-Star Game for the seventh time, and he fully intends on being in San Jose later on this month for the League's midseason showcase.
"It's obviously another honor for me. It's always fun to take part in those things," said Price, who will sport the colors of the Atlantic Division in Northern California. "I'm planning on going right now."

Benn delivers again
Benn's snipe at the 11:50 mark of the first period proved to be the game-winning goal on Thursday night.
The tally extended the 31-year-old rearguard's point streak to three straight games, too.
"It's just going in right now," said Benn, who has two goals and four points during his current streak.
While Benn isn't exactly sure why things are clicking for him offensively, Julien believes it has a lot to do with his upping his intensity level at both ends of the ice.

"He's more involved. He's more aggressive. He's even defending better because he's more aggressive than he was before. Confidence comes with that at some point," explained Julien. "He supports the rush. He played well on the road. He's playing good hockey right now and you hope it lasts as long as possible."
Price believes it will. He's always been a fan of Benn's style of play.
"He's a very consistent player. I've always liked him," said Price. "He brings a lot of poise with the puck. He makes some pretty smart plays out there, blocks shots for me, so he's my kind of guy."

Drouin lights the lamp
Drouin capped the scoring on Thursday night, beating Canucks goaltender Jacob Markstrom during the second period to register his 13th goal of the 2018-19 campaign.
That matched his goal total from all of last season, so Drouin is clearly on pace to improve that number significantly with 41 games to go.

"It's always fun to score, especially at home," said Drouin. "First game of a new year, it's a good start and a good team win."
It most definitely is!