After missing three weeks with a knee injury, the Habs will have Carey Price back in the lineup on Saturday night. They have also returned Charlie Lindgren to Laval of the AHL.
2017-18 hasn’t exactly gone swimmingly for Montreal’s star netminder. The team has won just three of his eleven starts while his 3.77 GAA is dead last among goalies with at least ten games played. His .877 SV% is only slightly better, ranking second-last league-wide. Needless to say, those are career-worsts by a long shot. The Habs will undoubtedly be hoping that during his time off, Price was able to figure out what those other issues were and that he’ll be back to form starting tomorrow against Buffalo.
Although Lindgren exceeded expectations in his nine starts, the team has decided that, at least for the time being, he will be better off playing regularly with the Rocket. He posted a 2.43 GAA and a .924 SV% with Montreal and certainly made a positive impression during his time with the big club. For now, at least, Antti Niemi will stick around as Price’s backup with Al Montoya still out indefinitely with a concussion.
In other injury news Friday, David Schlemko was sent to Laval on a conditioning stint. This is the second time this season they’ve done so and the last time it happened, he wound up right back on IR a day after playing. Everyone’s certainly hoping for a different outcome this time around.