Ducks at Canadiens
The Montreal Canadiens had the right answer to a rough, emotional night and look to continue that momentum when they host the Anaheim Ducks on Tuesday night. Goalie Carey Price was not pleased when he was pulled after surrendering four goals against San Jose on Friday and returned to the lineup one night later to lead the Canadiens to a 2-1 victory at Washington.
“It was important for everybody to get an opportunity to bounce back,” Price, who registered his 250th career win, told reporters after stopping 20 of 21 shots. “I didn’t have any doubts about the resiliency of our hockey team and the way we would rebound.” Price (17-4-2, 1.90 goals-against average) tries to improve on a 1-5-1 lifetime record against the Ducks, who won five of their last seven games after edging Toronto 3-2 on Monday. Anaheim defenseman Cam Fowler scored the winning goal against the Maple Leafs and collected four points in his last three games to move into fourth on the team with 22 and second in the NHL among defensemen with nine goals. Montreal must stay out of the penalty box as the Ducks converted 8-of-19 opportunities with the man advantage over the last five games.
TV: 7:30 p.m. ET, Prime Ticket (Anaheim), Sportsnet, RDS (Montreal)
ABOUT THE DUCKS (17-11-5): Captain Ryan Getzlaf notched his second goal in four games Monday to extend his point streak to five contests while red-hot fellow forward Rickard Rakell was kept off the scoresheet for the first time in seven outings. Corey Perry, who skated with Getzlaf and Rakell on Monday, has not posted a point in the last three contests after stringing together a six-game streak. Goalie John Gibson gave up five goals in two of his previous three starts, but rebounded to stop 33-of-35 shots Monday and is 3-1-0 with a 1.97 goals-against average against Montreal.
ABOUT THE CANADIENS (20-7-4): Montreal is missing three regular forwards - Andrew Shaw (concussion), David Desharnais (knee) and Alex Galchenyuk (knee) – while top-pair defenseman Andrei Markov (lower-body) is questionable. Captain Max Pacioretty has cooled off after a red-hot stretch, managing one point in the last three games to push his team-high total to 25. Second-leading scorer Alexander Radulov (23 points) was been kept off the scoresheet in three straight games and defenseman Shea Weber has gone nine contests without a point.
OVERTIME
1. Anaheim F Andrew Cogliano is slated to play in his 738th consecutive game, passing D Jay Bouwmeester for the fifth-longest streak in NHL history.
2. Montreal D Jeff Petry recorded a goal in each of the last two games and three of the last four.
3. The Ducks edged Montreal 2-1 on Nov. 29 for their fourth victory in the last five meetings.