It all started as a regular day at the Complexe sportif Bell, the Habs showed up to morning skate a few players down, Gallagher was nowhere to be found because of flu like symptoms and Andrew Shaw was also missing for family reasons. Both of the goaltenders were there however, at least at the start of practice. The lines and pairings were as follows:
Drouin - Domi - Byron Tatar - Danault - Hudon Peca - Kotkaniemi - Lehkonen Agostino - Chaput - Deslauriers Armia
Mete - Weber Reilly - Petry Kulak/Alzner - Benn Alzner
Price Niemi
Armia was sporting a no contact jersey but he's clearly nearing a return and Alzner looks to be the healthy scratch tomorrow. About an hour ago, Eric Engels reported this:
Claude Julien mentioned in French today that Carey Price left the ice at practice a little early today and that he'd see if he was available to play vs. the Panthers tom. Hearing he may not be traveling with the Canadiens to FLA. Waiting for an update. Nothing confirmed yet.
— Eric Engels (@EricEngels) December 27, 2018
The Habs have since then confirmed that Price would not be travelling to Florida with the team:
Mise à jour - Le gardien de but Carey Price n’accompagnera pas
— Canadiens Montréal (@CanadiensMTL) December 27, 2018
l’équipe en Floride (blessure au bas du corps)
UPDATE - Goaltender Carey Price will not travel with the team to Florida (lower-body injury).
How serious is the lower body injury? Who knows but needless to say a long absence would be a disaster for the Canadiens as Antti Niemi is not having a great season... But then again, there are those who say that we need a high draft pick and that this could be a blessing in disguise...Time will tell which it is...
Did the injury happen at practice? Or is it something that Price has been carrying for a few days now...remember in the December 15th match against Ottawa when he was slow to get up and Brian Wilde tweeted this:
It literally is blowing my mind at the moment that the most important player on the Montreal Canadiens actually grabbed his knee in pain and no one is going to look at him, and he is playing through it. Stunned.
— Brian Wilde (@BWildeGlobal) December 16, 2018
Remember the play? Here's a video to refresh your memory: