Montreal erased a three-goal deficit against their new bogeyman, the Toronto Maple Leafs. Above all action playing out among the skaters in the game, the guy who ended the night with an .865 save percentage was the biggest story of all. It’s not often in the modern era that a goalie can give up five goals and still be the biggest reason why a team won, but Carey Price shattered that narrative and proved why he is “Mr. Saturday Night.”
While regulation was tough on the netminder, including a fifth goal, from Auston Matthews, in the dying moments, Price had given the Canadiens every chance to win in Toronto. In overtime, Price proved to everyone why he’s paid so handily, and his performance silenced even the most vocal of his detractors.
His first chance came with Mitch Marner breaking in alone, and Price fell for none of his moves.
Twice. pic.twitter.com/iNfavUCcPC
— Jared Book (@jaredbook) October 6, 2019
Price wasn’t done there. Following an ill-fated power play, it would be John Tavares on a breakaway out of the box with Jeff Petry tailing him. Tavares pulled out some nifty moves, but the glove hand of Price denied him to keep the overtime period going.
The goaltender had one final say in the overtime period, as he kicked out the toe of his pad to deny Tavares at the last gasp to force it to a shootout.
In the penalty-shot portion, Price turned away Matthews, Marner, and Tavares in order to clinch the comeback win.
He isn’t going to give up five goals very often, but if Carey Price can still win games in a fashion like this, the Canadiens may surprise plenty of teams. Through two games he’s arguably been the best player on the roster, and that bodes very well for a Montreal squad that will be in a fight all year for a playoff spot.
