Price makes 33 saves in return, Canadiens shut out Canucks

MONTREAL -- Carey Price made 33 saves in his return from injury, and the Montreal Canadiens defeated the Vancouver Canucks 2-0 at Bell Centre on Thursday.

It was the second shutout of the season for Price and the 42nd of his NHL career, all with Montreal (22-14-5), which went 2-1-0 on a three-game road trip while their 31-year-old goalie was out with a lower-body injury.
"Rested," Price said about how he felt after playing his first game since Dec. 22. "I guess rest is welcome."
WATCH: [All Canucks vs. Canadiens highlights]
Jordie Benn and Jonathan Drouin scored for the Canadiens, who have won five of their past six games and 10 of 14.
"[Price] kept us in the game all along, especially in the second period," Drouin said. "Look at the last five minutes and the Grade A saves he made, that's the Carey that we know, but it's fun to watch a performance like that."
Jacob Markstrom made 25 saves for the Canucks (20-20-4), who were coming off a 4-3 overtime win against the Ottawa Senators on Wednesday.
"[Price] had a really good game tonight, and they took advantage of their scoring chances they got and got two past me," Markstrom said. "So it's a tough loss, obviously."

Vancouver forward Elias Pettersson left the game with a lower-body injury at 5:44 of the second period. He leads NHL rookies with 42 points (22 goals, 20 assists) in 38 games.
"He's staying with the team," Canucks coach Travis Green said. "I expect he won't play (against the Toronto Maple Leafs on) Saturday, but I don't expect that he's going to be (out) that long."
Benn gave Montreal a 1-0 lead with a wrist shot from the point at 11:50 of the first period. Joel Armia got an assist on the goal after missing the past 25 games because of a knee injury.
Drouin made it 2-0 at 8:24 of the second. He took a pass from Max Domi and scored on the rush with a shot inside the left post from the left face-off circle.

The Canucks, who will complete a six-game road trip when they play Maple Leafs, have lost two of three but are 9-4-1 in their past 14 games.
"It was a good game," Green said. "I thought we figured they'd come early, come hard at us, and they did. And I wouldn't say we weathered it, I thought the first period they probably had the upper hand a little bit, and we had a lot of time in their zone the last 34 minutes of the game."
Pettersson was face down on the ice after he fell awkwardly when his legs got twisted with Montreal forward Jesperi Kotkaniemi.
"Two guys who get tangled," Green said. "I've watched it a lot of times. First of all, it's not a dirty play by their player at all. He gets hooked a little bit, [Pettersson] actually pushes back on him and leans back and probably tries to give him a little bit of a reverse hit, and two young guys fall to the ice."
Pettersson, 20, completed his first NHL hat trick in overtime against the Senators after being named to the 2019 Honda NHL All-Star Game before the game.

They said it

"He's a big part of our group. It's not good that he's out, but as long as he's not out too long, it's part of the game. You do have bumps and bruises along the way and a lot of teams have to play without some of their top players." -- Canucks coach Travis Green on forward Elias Pettersson
"It's obviously another honor for me. It's always fun to take part in those things. I'm planning on going right now." -- Canadiens goalie Carey Price about being named to the NHL All-Star Game

Need to know

The Canucks have been shut out in three of their past six games. … Price is four shutouts behind Ken Dryden (46) for third in Canadiens history. They trail George Hainsworth (75) and Jacques Plante (58).

What's next

Canucks: At the Toronto Maple Leafs on Saturday (7 p.m. ET; CBC, SNO, SNW, SNP, NHL.TV)
Canadiens: Host the Nashville Predators on Saturday (7 p.m. ET; ESPN+, SN360, CITY, SNE, TVAS, FS-TN, NHL.TV)