Habs Daily: Price Congratulates Dobes, Primeau Waivers, Laine

Here are the Montreal Canadiens news items, highlights, and stories you may have missed on Saturday.

Montreal Canadiens News

Habs legend Carey Price was watching as Jakub Dobes pitched a 34-save shutout in his NHL debut versus the defending Stanley Cup champions, the Florida Panthers. For the record, Price saved 28 of the 30 shots he faced during his NHL debut, a 3-2 win over the Pittsburgh Penguins on October 10, 2007. Ryan Whitney and Max Talbot beat Price, while Tomas Plekanec, Alex Kovalev, and Andrei Markov were the goalscorers for the Habs.

Congrats Jakub. Makes me happy to see a moment like that.

— Carey Price (@CP0031) December 29, 2024

Even though the Canadiens won 4-0, Dobes still had to do his part, especially in the third period, when the Panthers took over from a momentum standpoint. Saturday’s game was also Kirby Dach’s best outing of the season thanks to a two-goal effort. As per tradition, Jake Evans scored a dramatic goal, and Juraj Slafkovsky looked good while playing on the first line.  [Canadiens Talk: Impact Of Jakub Dobes Call-Up, Primeau, Fowler]

With Dobes in Montreal, the Canadiens proceeded to place goaltender Cayden Primeau on waivers. If he clears, he should be set to play a reasonable number of games for the Laval Rocket, who will need solid goaltending if they’re to compensate for losing Dobes to the NHL. There’s a possibility someone may claim Primeau, but given the number of goaltenders available every season, it’s not a likely scenario. [Montreal Canadiens Place Primeau On NHL Waivers]

Patrik Laine has done great things on the powerplay, but his 5v5 play has predictably lagged behind his special teams impact. There’s no rush when it comes to producing solid underlying numbers at even-strength, but the last few games have featured improvements in that department. It helps that Dach and Alex Newhook have found their rhythm in recent games.

It’s also worth pointing the results have been much better with Alex Carrier in the fold, both from a team standpoint, and among top-four defencemen. [Canadiens Analysis: Early Results From Carrier Trade Are Encouraging]

Lane Hutson against the cup champs this afternoon.

via @hockeystatcards pic.twitter.com/t02Axyrwvk

— carina (@goalcauf) December 28, 2024