Red Wings, Canadiens focus on strong finish in subpar seasons (Mar 25, 2018)
While there's not much at stake for the Detroit Red Wings and the Montreal Canadiens when they meet Monday night at Bell Centre other than positioning for the 2018 NHL Draft in June, there are still some individual stories worth following.
Canadiens forward Brendan Gallagher scored his 28th goal of the year in a 6-4 loss to the Washington Capitals on Saturday at Bell Centre and is looking for the first 30-goal season in his six-year NHL career.
He has surpassed his one-season best of 24 in 2014-15. Gallagher said that despite the Canadiens' struggles -- they are 3-9-2 in March and have plummeted to 14th place in the Eastern Conference -- they are still focused on building a good culture in this lost season.
"We keep talking about building toward something and we're just going to keep working toward it," he told NHL.com, "and eventually there will be improvements and that's only going to come from hard work."
Canadiens goaltender Carey Price, meanwhile, has struggled this season and will try and get his game on track in whatever starts he receives down the stretch. He has lost his past seven games (0-5-2) and has given up 11 goals on 69 shots in two games since returning from a concussion.
"You want to play your best and when you don't it's frustrating. But you have to shake it off," Price told the Montreal Gazette after the loss to the Capitals on Saturday.
Price has given up four goals or more nine times in 24 games this season at Bell Centre, the most in a season in his career. He allowed four goals or more eight times in three different seasons before 2017-18.
Price is 2-10-4 with a 3.46 goals-against average and .881 save percentage since Jan. 15.
"It's pretty disappointing to give up that many goals at home, and you can't blame the goalie on any of them," Gallagher told NHL.com. "I think there's obviously too many power-play opportunities, too many shots from the slot, and that's just something we need to get a lot better at."
Canadiens coach Claude Julien said it will only be a matter of time before Price recovers the form of previous seasons that earned him an eight-year, $84 million contract extension kicking in next season.
"It happens, but the one thing I can tell you is that we know how good he is and how good he will be," Julien told The Gazette. "I'm not worried about him bouncing back. It wasn't his best night (Saturday).
"Knowing Carey he probably mentioned it, but, at the same time, a lot of our season has gone that way. Our team wasn't great (Saturday) in front of him. We just talked about how many slot chances we've been giving up. This is where I know what I'm going to get out of Carey and I'm more confident than worried."
Canadiens backup goaltender Antti Niemi, meanwhile, has resurrected his career and is 6-3-3 in the past 12 games when he has been the goalie of record.
The Canadiens are the third team this season for the 34-year-old, who signed a one-year deal worth $700,000 with the Pittsburgh Penguins to start the season. He was waived by the Penguins and picked up by the Florida Panthers. The Canadiens claimed him on waivers in November.
His play down the stretch with the Canadiens might have earned him a chance to get a contract with a team next season.
The Canadiens (27-37-12) lead the Red Wings (27-37-11) by one point in the standings. The Canadiens defeated the Red Wings 10-1 in the last visit to Bell Centre on Dec. 2.
The Red Wings practiced Sunday at Bell Centre after a 4-3 loss to the Toronto Maple Leafs on Saturday. The Red Wings are 1-8-1 in their past 10 games.
Red Wings captain Henrik Zetterberg and defenseman Niklas Kronwall did not skate Sunday, but Detroit coach Jeff Blashill said he expects them to play against the Canadiens.
Both the Canadiens and the Red Wings know some of their fan base is rooting for them to lose to improve their odds in the NHL draft lottery, but the coaches and players have different priorities.
"You want to get the best pick in the draft, but you don't want to lose," Detroit rookie forward Martin Frk told DetroitRedWings.com. "We lose too many games. We won one and now we are two losses again. You want to keep winning. It just gives you a better feeling.
"The room is better, all the staff, fans, so you don't want to lose. You want to win. On opposite I see that better picks, it's better for the future. But we are definitely coming tomorrow to the game to win the game. That's the main goal."
The Red Wings are playing the front end of back-to-back games. They return home to host the Pittsburgh Penguins on Tuesday.
