Carey Price Carrying the Habs in New Jersey

Montreal Canadiens fans, myself included, and most hockey analysts around the world roared their disapproval when Bob Gainey traded Cristobal Huet at the deadline. It placed the season and the playoffs squarely on the shoulders of the highly touted, but inexperienced, phenom Carey Price. Thus far, it's Bob Gainey 1 and the rest of us 0 as Price continues to play an absolutely stunning game in net.

Tonight's game against the New Jersey Devils is huge for a variety of reasons, not the least of which being that the Devils are competing with the Habs for the top seed, and Montreal should be losing. Overall, New Jersey has carried the play and out shot the Habs 33 to 18, but Montreal is up 3-0. The only reason the Canadiens are not only in a position to win this game but dominating on the scoreboard is the phenomenal play of the youngster in goal. I'll write more about Carey Price tomorrow, but if you get Versus it's worth tuning in to see the last period of the game. You're most likely watching the next great goaltender, possibly the next Patrick Roy, and it's something to remember. If you live in Montreal, I assume you're already watching and dreaming of what this kid might do if he can carry this confidence and momentum into the playoffs.

Update:

Montreal repaid their young goaltender's two periods of incredible play with a stellar third where they only allowed 5 shots on goal and registered 15 themselves. The much maligned Michael Ryder scored with less than 3 minutes left to close out the Devils 4-0. A huge win for Montreal as they move into the top seed of the East.