After leaving last night’s game following the first period, it wasn’t clear exactly what the prognosis was for Montreal Canadiens goaltender Carey Price. He wasn’t on the ice for this morning’s practice either, and now head coach Dominque Ducharme has explained that his starting netminder has been placed in the concussion protocol and will be out at least a week.
Jake Allen, who finished last night’s game, and Cayden Primeau were the goalies on the ice today. It appears as though they’ll have to carry the load for a little while.
Although he played out the period, Price did have his head contacted by Alex Chiasson early on. That is where Ducharme believes the concussion occurred, but at any rate, the team will have to go without their high-priced netminder.
It’s been a brutal year for Price overall, with a 12-7-5 record and .901 save percentage through 25 appearances. He has been steadily outplayed by Allen, who was supposed to be the clear backup but now takes over as the obvious number one until Price is cleared to return. Even then, as much as they don’t want to admit it, the Canadiens have a controversy brewing as the playoffs approach. A recent concussion for Price will only strengthen the case to have Allen in net for game one, should Montreal hold onto the fourth and final playoff spot in the North Division.
As for Primeau, who now steps into a backup role, Renaud Lavoie of TVA Sports tweets that the young goaltender is expected to make his season debut against the Calgary Flames later this week. He has been recalled to the NHL squad under emergency conditions and will likely start one of the back-to-back matches on Friday/Saturday.
With how poor Price has been, this may actually increase their playoff chances.