Habs Report: Price To Start; Armia Takes Leave Of Absence

There was plenty of news coming from the morning skate for the Montreal Canadiens ahead of their tilt with the Minnesota Wild.

-Montreal Canadiens goalie Carey Price will get his second start of the season after allowing two goals on 19 shots in a 3-0 loss to the New York Islanders.

“It’s been good,” Price told reporters on Monday of the last two days after his first start of the 2021-22 season. “Even when I wasn’t playing, being on the bench and taking in a game at ice level. …and then I had a good practice today and getting ready for the game [Tuesday].”

Price also stressed that while he and the team have attempted to map out a schedule for the last six games, his knee and body will ultimately decide how many games he plays and when before the season ends on April 29 against the Florida Panthers at the Bell Centre.

“I have a bit of an idea but it’s going to be kind of a day-to-day type of thing,” Price said. “I haven’t seen a lot of reps in games and I still feel like my conditioning level could increase so it’s all going to be how I feel the next day after.”

Joel Armia ne jouera pas ce soir. Il a obtenu une autorisation spéciale pour retourner en Finlande pour des raisons familiales.

Joel Armia won't play tonight. He has been granted a leave of absence to attend to a family matter in Finland.

— Canadiens Montréal (@CanadiensMTL) April 19, 2022

-Montreal Canadiens forward Joel Armia has taken a leave of absence for family reasons and returned to Finland.

-Forwards Laurent Dauphin and Mathieu Perreault, and defenceman Jordan Harris will draw into the lineup while Armia, Jake Evans (illness) Corey Schueneman (healthy scratch) be out.

Wild Notes

-The Minnesota Wild will start Cam Talbot between the pipes on Tuesday night.

-The Wild will be without forward Marcus Foligno who was put in COVID Protocol on Monday.

-The Wild clinched a playoff berth with a 5-4 overtime win against the Sharks at the Xcel Energy Center on Sunday.

-Kevin Fiala has 12 points (6 goals, 6 assists) during a six-game point streak.