Price of fame lifts Canadiens

Carey Price's teammates are no longer amazed when the man widely acclaimed as hockey's greatest goalie makes an impossible save look easy.

Price made a game-changing stop in the third period, one of his 30 saves on the night, to lead Montreal to a 3-1 victory against the Tampa Bay Lightning on Thursday night for the Canadiens' sixth straight win.

With Montreal trailing 1-0 to start the third, Price kept his team in the game by robbing Ondrej Palat from close range with a lightning-fast right-leg kick. The puck, headed for the back of the net, went off Price's toe and bounced into the boards. The goalie called it a "lucky" save.

"It's the norm now with him," Montreal forward Torrey Mitchell said.

"You're almost not even surprised by it. Most goalies, it's in the back of the net. That just gives us that momentum, it gives us such a big boost. You see the confidence that we come out with on the next two or three shifts after those types of saves."

Alex Killorn scored the lone goal for the Lightning, who lost against an Eastern Conference opponent for the first time this season. Ben Bishop stopped 23 shots in the Tampa net.

Canadiens captain Max Pacioretty, who scored the winning goal, also praised Price.

"That's just him being himself, making the right save at the right time," Pacioretty said.

"Normally after there's a big save or a big play, you generally see the team tend to give a little bit more effort and rally together."

Alex Galchenyuk tied the score with a powerplay goal at 6:12 of the third, and Torrey Mitchell's empty-netter in the waning seconds sealed the win as Montreal improved to 7-0-1.

Price beat Tampa Bay for the first time in his last eight starts (1-5-2). His previous win against the Lightning was on Dec 28, 2013.

Price wasn't tested much in the early stages of the game as Tampa Bay didn't get its first shot until 12:14 had elapsed.

Killorn beat Price for the game's first goal with 3:52 left in the middle period by deflecting home a slap pass from Victor Hedman.

(China Daily 10/29/2016 page8)