Montreal Canadiens goaltender Carey Price stared at the puck in the net behind him in a must-win Game 3 of the Stanley Cup Final against the Tampa Bay Lightning, and staring right back at him was a near-impossible deficit, down 3-0 in the series and facing the prospect of elimination in Game 4 at home after a 6-3 loss on Friday.
After Montreal counted on him so much to get through the playoffs, Price appears to be wearing down. Some stoppable shots going in have contributed to the situation.
“We win as a team, we lose a team,” coach Dominique Ducharme said in French after the loss. “We all want to do better.”
Photo: AFP
Still, the Canadiens need Price to play better than he has the past two games.
He was beaten clean twice in the first four minutes by Tampa Bay defensemen Jan Rutta and Victor Hedman as part of a terrible start to Game 3 that was not all on Price.
Tyler Johnson scored twice off bad rebounds that were un-Price-like.
Photo: AFP
Even Game 2 was not his finest hour. Price gave up a goal to Anthony Cirelli on a seemingly harmless shot and a backbreaker to Blake Coleman, who knocked in the puck diving with one hand with 1.1 seconds left in the second period.
Asked how he felt he was playing this series, Price said: “I can definitely play better. It’s just not good enough so far.”
The Canadiens have not been good enough to handle a deep, talented Lightning side who know how to win in the playoffs. They started the final by successfully getting traffic in front of Price and scoring goals on shots he could not see or be blamed for.
“We count on Carey being the rock back there and he always is,” Canadiens assistant coach Luke Richardson said this week. “We need to make sure we supply him with enough support up front.”
While it is true that the Canadiens could offer more support for Price, they could use a timely save from him in this series.
He has made some jaw-dropping stops here and there, but also has allowed 13 goals through three games — the same as the entire semi-final series against the Vegas Golden Knights — and has a pedestrian .835 save percentage.
Meanwhile, Andrei Vasilevskiy — who had a margin for error for a soft goal or two in Game 3 — has stopped 92 of 97 shots for a .948 save percentage.
That has put him in contention for the Conn Smythe Trophy as playoff MVP, which Price won as the best player six years ago.
“They need Carey Price to be on par with Andrei Vasilevskiy,” NBC Sports analyst Ed Olczyk said. “So far, Vaslievskiy has outplayed Carey Price without question.”
In the Cup Final, the biggest moment for the Canadiens, Price has been one of Montreal’s biggest weaknesses and they have little ability to come back in the series unless Price rights his game.
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