Canadiens' Carey Price: Likely to start Saturday

Price will be "ready to play" Saturday afternoon against Winnipeg, according to new coach Claude Julien, Stu Cowan of the Montreal Gazette reports. The coach said that with a smile to reporters Friday following his first practice with the Canadiens, suggesting that Price will be in net at the Bell Centre.

Analysis:

Entering the Canadiens' bye week, Price hadn't been performing well, admitting it's been a challenging season. He was able to get away from the game for multiple days and said he now feels recharged and refocused. Montreal, scorers of just seven goals in its last 10 games, could really use the Vezina version of Price. Former coach Michel Therrien wanted to keep Price down to about 60 games following last year's knee injury and rehab, but If Price returns to the level of award-winning play, it will be hard for Julien to stick to that schedule. The coach hasn't yet sat down with his goalie to discuss a potential workload going forward. Price has played 43 games and there's 24 remaining on the schedule, with three back-to-back sets.