The Montreal Canadiens entered game two against the Ottawa Senators with fate against them. They were without Lars Eller after his horrible head injury, captain Brian Gionta, and their regular-season leading scorer Max Pacioretty. They did have one key player: goalie Carey Price.
The Habs did not forget what happened to their fallen teammate and started the trash talking Friday morning. During warm ups, members of both teams were seen “chatting” with each other at center ice. The anger stayed with them in the game, but while they were physical, they concentrated on the game.
Price did not have a good game one, but was stellar in this one. He stopped 29 out of 30 shots. He did not face a shot in the first seven minutes of the game thanks to great defense from the Habs.
He did have the best moment of the game and proved why hockey players are the toughest athletes. About five minutes into the second period he was hit in the face by teammate Jarred Tinordi’s skate. Price calmly skated to the bench, spit out his tooth, handed it to the trainer, and skated back to the net.
“A couple of guys went hard to the net, and I don’t know what hit me in the head but it kind of stung me for a second,” Price said. “I felt two teeth in my mouth, so I knew that wasn’t very good.”
All goals occurred in the second period. The Habs received goals from Ryan White, Brendan Gallagher, and Michael Ryder. Milan Michalek scored the Senators only goal.
Eric Gryba was suspended for two games for his hit on Eller. Eller lost consciousness and suffered a concussion, facial fractures, and lost many teeth.
Game three is Sunday night at 7PM ET on NBC Sports Network in Ottawa.
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