Price seems lost addressing his struggles with media; Habs' new coach gives bleak assessment of game
Despite the fact that there's a new head coach in town, the Montreal Canadiens seemed like the same old team Thursday night, losing to the Winnipeg Jets 6-3. Goaltender Carey Price and is performance were once again at the forefront after he let in five goals on 29 shots for a save percentage of .828 on the night.
"I just think maybe I'm just overthinking things. That's all I've got for you," is all Price would say when asked about his struggles post game.
In 12 starts this season, Price has a goals against average of 3.13 and a save percentage of .888, not nearly good enough for a guy making $10.5 million per season and certainly not good enough if the hope is for the Habs to make the playoffs. According to Sportsnet Stats, Price has the 2nd worse save percentage in the league for any goaltender since February 25th of last season.
New head coach Dominique Ducharme, who was at the helm for his first ever NHL game, had a blunt assessment of Montreal's effort.
"We cracked. We cracked mentally. We cracked physically," said Ducharme.
Asked about Price's game, Ducharme maintained his assessment.
"Like the team. He's part of the team, and I think it was the same thing."
Many on social media are saying Price needs to sit and Jake Allen needs to take over between the pipes until Price can get his head back in the game. It's difficult to disagree with that assessment, especially in this shortened season where one losing streak could derail the entire year. For whatever reason, previous coaches have been hesitant to do that with Price. We'll have to wait and see if Ducharme will be different.
Ducharme did note that the injury to Josh Anderson that caused him to leave the game does not appear to be serious, although more tests need to be done. Anderson was on the receiving end of a slewfoot from Dylan DeMelo that went uncalled in the first. No word on any possible supplementary discipline for DeMelo.
| G | A | PTS | ||
| Zachary Werenski | 2 | 3 | 5 | |
| Sean Monahan | 1 | 3 | 4 | |
| Jesper Bratt | 2 | 1 | 3 | |
| Frederick Gaudreau | 2 | 1 | 3 | |
| Jack Hughes | - | 3 | 3 | |
| Nikita Kucherov | - | 3 | 3 | |
| Mackenzie Weegar | - | 3 | 3 | |
| Kent Johnson | 2 | - | 2 | |
| Alexander Wennberg | 2 | - | 2 | |
| Mitchell Chaffee | 1 | 1 | 2 | |
| Anthony Cirelli | 1 | 1 | 2 | |
| Matthew Coronato | 1 | 1 | 2 | |
| Marcus Foligno | 1 | 1 | 2 | |
| Nick Foligno | 1 | 1 | 2 | |
| Conor Geekie | 1 | 1 | 2 | |
| Brandon Hagel | 1 | 1 | 2 | |
| Stefan Noesen | 1 | 1 | 2 | |
| Corey Perry | 1 | 1 | 2 | |
| Igor Sharangovich | 1 | 1 | 2 | |
| Dmitry Voronkov | 1 | 1 | 2 | |
| Complete stats | ||||
| STANDINGS 2024-2025 | ||||||
TOP 10 | GP | W | L | OL | PTS | |
Jets | 19 | 16 | 3 | - | 32 | |
Wild | 19 | 13 | 3 | 3 | 29 | |
Hurricanes | 19 | 14 | 5 | - | 28 | |
Devils | 22 | 13 | 7 | 2 | 28 | |
Capitals | 19 | 13 | 5 | 1 | 27 | |
Golden Knights | 20 | 12 | 6 | 2 | 26 | |
Maple Leafs | 20 | 12 | 6 | 2 | 26 | |
Rangers | 18 | 12 | 5 | 1 | 25 | |
Panthers | 20 | 12 | 7 | 1 | 25 | |
Flames | 20 | 11 | 6 | 3 | 25 | |
| Conference | Cumulative | ||||||