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NHL Power Rankings: Carey Price Carries Montreal to Top

By Ryan Ritchie

Oct 22, 2016; Boston, MA, USA; Boston Bruins center Ryan Spooner (not pictured) scores a goal past Montreal Canadiens goalie Carey Price (31) during the third period at TD Garden. Mandatory Credit: Bob DeChiara-USA TODAY Sports
Oct 22, 2016; Boston, MA, USA; Boston Bruins center Ryan Spooner (not pictured) scores a goal past Montreal Canadiens goalie Carey Price (31) during the third period at TD Garden. Mandatory Credit: Bob DeChiara-USA TODAY Sports /
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Oct 6, 2016; Montreal, Quebec, CAN; Montreal Canadiens forward Alexander Radulov (47) during the warmup period of a preseason hockey game against the Toronto Maple Leafs at the Bell Centre. Mandatory Credit: Eric Bolte-USA TODAY Sports
Oct 6, 2016; Montreal, Quebec, CAN; Montreal Canadiens forward Alexander Radulov (47) during the warmup period of a preseason hockey game against the Toronto Maple Leafs at the Bell Centre. Mandatory Credit: Eric Bolte-USA TODAY Sports /

Previous Ranking: 9 (+8)

Team Record: (6-0-1)

Player of the Week: Carey Price (3 wins 1.67GAA .939 save percentage)

Special Teams

PP: (5-for-26) 19.2 percent (T-15th)
PK: (3-for-28) 89.3 percent (7th)

Goaltending

After being sidelined with the flu to open the season, Carey Price made his presence felt upon return. He shut the door vs. Arizona last Thursday stopping 27 of 29 shots for the win. Two nights later, he stopped 19 of 21 shots for a victory in Boston, and lastly, he surrendered just one goal on 32 shots for the W at home versus Philadelphia.

The Habs turned to Al Montoya on Wednesday night after the team had just two days off. Again, he delivered another solid start allowing two goals on 28 shots for his third win of the year.

Defense

Offseason acquisition Shea Weber definitely challenges Carey Price for POW honors. In fact, he’s arguably vying for Hart Trophy honors after six games. Montreal thought they were giving up a bit of offense for a strong defensive presence (which will be the case once the dust settles), so eight points in six games is a nice surprise. We don’t expect the production to continue at such a high-rate, but there’s no reason to believe he can’t match/exceed his career-best of 56 points from three seasons ago.

On a side note, it seems Nathan Beaulieu is working through a demotion right now. The hope was for him to serve on the top pairing, flourishing alongside Shea Weber the way Roman Josi did. There’s still hope he can make his way back up there, but he’ll need to pick up his play.

Forwards

Montreal was receiving next to zero goal support from their bottom three forward lines during the first week of play. It was only because of Max Pacioretty, Alex Galchenyuk, and Brendan Gallagher that the Habs could score enough goals to support Al Montoya‘s strong start.
Luckily, the rest of the forward group decided to wake up over the past four games. It was the bottom six that stepped up versus Arizona followed by a nice second line performance led by Alex Radulov (one goal, two assists) vs. Philadelphia.

One of the major bright spots early on has gotta be Artturi Lehkonen. We got a taste of what he could bring to the table during the preseason, and his impressive play seems to keep rolling through the first six games. He has two goals, one assist in seven games and serves as a quality two-way forward.

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