No doubt Carey Price is having a great season in goal for the Montreal Canadiens.
So perhaps he should be forgiven for his faulty analysis of the team’s success.
“It’s a team sport. I’m relying on guys around me,” he told the Associated Press after he picked up his second consecutive 1-0 shutout over the weekend, against the Washington Capitals.
Actually, it’s the other way around.
By all measures, the team is relying heavily on the diplomatically modest Price, as the Canadiens scrap with the Tampa Bay Lightning and Detroit Red Wings in a tight battle for supremacy of the Atlantic Division, and the No 1 spot in the Eastern Conference.
Credit teammate Max Pacioretty for setting the record straight.
“It sounds cheesy,” the Montreal forward said. “But he really is the backbone of this team.”
Certainly, Price is having the best statistical season of his seven-year career.
His 93.3 save percentage leads the league’s starting goaltenders, and his 2.03 goals-against ranks third. His career averages are 91.8 and 2.47.
Purveyors of advanced analytics see much more than such surface numbers, including the fact that the Canadiens are 22nd of 30 teams in scoring per game.
The Canadiens also are below average in puck possession, and they wallow among the non-contenders in allowing scoring chances.
That is, the team does not put the puck in the net much, and it spends too much time watching opponents pepper their goalie with shots. Such teams usually play their final games in April. Fortunately, Price has been spectacular enough not just to bail the Canadiens out, but put them in prime play-offs position.
It is the kind of goaltending that wins Stanley Cups. Price has been getting better as the season progresses, his save percentage rising each month.
The Canadian, 27, has allowed seven goals in his past six starts, his best stretch yet.
The consecutive 1-0 victories came against Eastern play-offs contenders, the New York Rangers and the Capitals. Price turned away 24 shots against New York but did not see his team take the lead until the third period.
Against the Caps, Price stopped all 36 shots and had to wait until overtime when Pacioretty scored on Montreal’s 30th shot to win.
Washington’s Eric Fehr offered a familiar lament after his normally high-scoring team became Price’s fourth shutout victims of the season: “We had a lot of Grade A opportunities. With any other goalie in the net, we probably win the game.”
The next night, Price got some rest while back-up Dustin Tokarski faced the lowly Arizona Coyotes. The Canadiens lost at home 3-2.
Price’s stellar play has credible context. He was a first-round draft pick in 2005, is a four-time All-Star, and he was the gold-medal winning goalie for Canada at the Sochi Olympics a year ago.
But this season, he’s been a sprawling, swatting, puck-snatching marvel.
“Even when he shouldn’t be making saves,” said teammate PK Subban, “he is.”
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