Montreal Canadiens goaltender Carey Price is going to be out of the lineup with a lower body injury, the team announced on Sunday. The timeframe on his absence appears to be about a week, according to TVA’s Renaud Lavoie.
With a .936 all situation save percentage and a .941 even strength save percentage, Price is off to another great start, helping the Habs to their best start in franchise history. His even strength save percentage is eighth in the league currently among goaltenders who have played at least three games.
The injury reportedly took place in Thursday’s game against the Oilers. He didn’t feel great on Friday, so the team had him re-evaluated on Saturday. He has been placed on injured reserve retroactive to Thursday in order to make space for goaltender Dustin Tokarski, who the team has recalled from the St. Johns IceCaps of the AHL, where he has a .891 save percentage through six games.
With the Canadiens set to play the Winnipeg Jets on Sunday in Montreal, the team has named 25-year-old rookie netminder Mike Condon the starter. It will be his fourth start of the young season.
Canadiens recalled goaltender @dustintokarski from the @IceCapsAHL this morning. (@CP0031 – lower body injury)
— Canadiens Montréal (@CanadiensMTL) November 1, 2015
Top prospect Zach Fucale is the other netminder serving time with St. Johns. He has a .920 through five games.
If Price is out exactly one week, he’ll miss four games that includes finishing a run of Canadian with Winnipeg and Ottawa on the horizon following this week’s matches against Toronto, Vancouver, Edmonton and Calgary. They’ll also play the rival Boston Bruins and the New York Islanders, who are off to a solid start.
RELATED: Evaluating Mike Condon Through His First Five Games
Dustin Nelson is the News Editor for The Hockey Writers. He’s a contributor to Hockey Prospectus, Hockey Wilderness, and writes a column for Rotowire. He’s also written for Gone Puck Wild, Wild Xtra, InDigest, Electric Literature, The Rumpus, Tiny Mix Tapes, Prefix Magazine & other publications. Have a tip? Email him at dlukenelson[at]gmail[dot]com.
