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 The Montreal goalie made 27 saves for his second shutout in his
past four starts, and left winger Rene Bourque and center David
Desharnais scored as the Canadiens ended the Flames' season-high
five-game winning streak with a 2-0 victory Tuesday night.
Price, who will represent Canada at the 2014 Sochi Olympics, posted
his fourth shutout of the season. A week earlier, he blanked the
Carolina Hurricanes 3-0 in a 36-save effort.
He helped himself survive a close call 1:44 into the second period
on Calgary right winger Lee Stempniak's shot from the right corner.
Stempniak was beyond the goal line near the boards when he fired a
low shot toward the net that ended up loose between the Montreal
goalie's pads.
"I really didn't think anything of it, and one of the guys said it
looked like it was in, and they looked at it," Stempniak said.
A video review upheld referee Chris Rooney's on-ice ruling that the
puck did not completely cross the goal line.
"It was kind of a weird play," Price said. "He just threw it on net
and it hit my stick and sat right on the goal line; I didn't know if
it was in or not. I knew it was going to be really close, so I just
tried to fall on it and blocked all the camera views."
It was Price's 23rd career shutout, tying him with 2001-02 Hart and
Vezina Trophy winner Jose Theodore for seventh on the Canadiens'
all-time list.
Calgary goalie Reto Berra stopped 25 shots as the Flames' longest
winning streak of the season ended. Calgary won eight in a row from
Feb. 23 to March 27, 2013.
"Can't fault Reto for his effort; gave us a chance to win, came up
with big saves at the right time," Flames coach Bob Hartley said.
"The turning point of our game, it's our two-man power play. That's
where, if we score, it's a different game, but that's how it goes.
We had a few good chances. Price came up with some big saves, but
tonight we worked hard but we couldn't capitalize on any of our
chances."
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The Canadiens killed a two-minute, five-on-three power play for the
Flames in the second. Center Lars Eller was called for a faceoff
violation at 11:16 on a draw in Montreal's zone immediately after
Canadiens center Tomas Plekanec was penalized for roughing.
"That was a big momentum boost for us," Price said of shutting down
Calgary's power play.
The Canadiens broke the scoreless tie when right winger Brandon
Prust's shot struck Berra before caroming into the net off Bourque's
left leg 16:15 into the second period.
"There wasn't much offense in this game, but it was one of those
goals that was going to win it," Bourque said.
Desharnais scored into an empty net with 10.1 seconds left in the
third period, exactly 20 seconds after Flames left winger Michael
Cammalleri was called for hooking.
Right winger Dale Weise had a scoring chance on his first shift in
his Montreal debut. Weise, who was acquired from Vancouver on Monday
in a trade that sent defenseman Raphael Diaz to the Canucks,
narrowly missed connection on Canadiens center Ryan White's pass
from the left corner to the goalmouth.
NOTES: Canadiens coach Michel Therrien was an assistant coach on
Flames coach Bob Hartley's staff with the Laval Titan of the Quebec
Major Junior Hockey League in the early 1990s. ... Calgary LW Mike
Cammalleri played his first game at Bell Centre since he was traded
to the Flames by Montreal on Jan. 12, 2012, in exchange for LW Rene
Bourque, a minor-leaguer and a draft pick. ... Flames G Karri Ramo
is out with a knee injury he sustained Saturday in Calgary's 4-3
overtime win against the Minnesota Wild. G Joni Ortio, who was
recalled from AHL Abbotsford on Monday, backed up Flames starting G
Reto Berra. ... Canadiens C Lars Eller, who assisted on Bourque's
second-period goal, had no points in his previous 14 games, just
three in his past 27 games. ... C Ryan White returned to Montreal's
lineup after missing 14 games because of an upper-body injury. ...
Canadiens LW Travis Moen missed the game because of a lower-body
injury. ... RW George Parros and D Francis Bouillon did not dress
for Montreal.
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