Apr 25, 2015
Canadiens G Price won't hit panic button
The Canadiens have dropped their last two games to the Ottawa Senators, but Carey Price believes Montreal still controls the best-of-seven series. Price and the Canadiens were beaten 5-1 by the visiting Senators on Friday in Game 5 of their first-round playoff series.
The Canadian Press
MONTREAL - The Canadiens have dropped their last two games to the Ottawa Senators, but Carey Price believes Montreal still controls the best-of-seven series.
Price and the Canadiens were beaten 5-1 by the visiting Senators on Friday in Game 5 of their first-round playoff series. After winning the first three games of the matchup, Montreal's lead has been reduced to 3-2.
Despite missing two occasions to close out the series — including Wednesday's 1-0 loss in Game 4 — Price isn't hitting the panic button.
"We have enough experience in this room, we know what we have to do," said the Canadiens goaltender, who gave up five goals on 25 shots in Game 5. "We're still in the driver's seat. We have to realize the position that we're in and keep moving forward.
"We have a couple of games. They have their back against the wall. We can't really think about pressure right now."
The series returns to Ottawa for Game 6 on Sunday. The Canadiens have never lost a playoff series after leading 3-0, nor have they ever been forced to play a Game 7 after taking a three-game series lead.
The current Habs were optimistic they wouldn't be undoing either of those records.
"It's easy to get caught up in thinking who has the pressure and different scenarios and different situations," said Max Pacioretty, who finished the game with three shots and a minus-1 rating. "But at the end of the day we just have to focus on our game.
"We're up 3-2 in the series. We win one game and we win the series. We have to find a way to bounce back."
Bouncing back for Montreal will mean solving Ottawa netminder Craig Anderson, who replaced Andrew Hammond as the Sens' starter after Ottawa's loss in Game 2. Anderson has made 120 saves on 123 shots in three starts — good for a .976 save percentage.
On Friday the Canadiens fired 46 shots on Anderson, including 20 in the third period, but a number of those came from tight angles along the boards. Anderson was only beaten once — a shot from the point by Tom Gilbert with a screen from Dale Weise.
Montreal will also need to unlock its defunct power play, which has gone 1-for-19 in the series. The Canadiens' only power-play goal came in Game 2.
Michel Therrien's men couldn't capitalize on three chances with the man advantage in Game 5. The team's best chance with the extra skater came two minutes into the contest, when Alex Galchenyuk came inches from connecting with a wide-open Andrei Markov at the side of Anderson's net.
"It's frustrating when you get power plays and you can't make the difference there," said P.K. Subban. "But it's a game of bounces. We're getting pucks to the net, but we have to do a better job of getting in front of the goaltender."
Bobby Ryan scored twice for the Senators — his first goals in 17 games. Patrick Wiercioch, Erik Karlsson and Erik Condra also scored for Ottawa.