The Canadiens announced Tuesday morning that goaltender Cayden Primeau has been called up from the AHL’s Laval Rocket and added to the team’s taxi squad.
The team also announced that goalie Carey Price won’t make the trip to Toronto for Wednesday night’s game against the Maple Leafs (7:30 p.m., SN, NBCSN, RDS, TSN 690 Radio, 98.5 FM).
Price appeared to suffer an injury during the second period of Monday night’s 3-2 overtime win over the Edmonton Oilers at the Bell Centre but stayed in the game.
When head coach Dominique Ducharme was asked about Price’s status after the game, he said: “He’s getting checked out. I mean, we don’t think it’s anything serious. He’s getting checked out.”
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Ducharme also said after the game that forward Brendan Gallagher, who was hit by a slapshot from teammate Alexander Romanov during the first period, had suffered a fractured thumb and would be out for weeks, not days.
Price stopped 21 of 23 shots in Monday night’s game, improving his record to 12-6-5 with a 2.66 goals-against average and a .903 save percentage. Gallagher has 14-9-23 totals in 35 games. His 14 goals are tied for second on the team with Josh Anderson, trailing Tyler Toffoli, who has 19.
Backup goalie Jake Allen has been solid this season with a 5-3-4 record, a 2.23 goals-against average and a .922 save percentage. With Laval this season, Primeau has an 11-3-0 record with a 2.07 goals-against average and a 2.07 goals-against average. The Canadiens selected Primeau in the seventh round (199th overall) of the 2017 NHL Draft.
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Habs sign Mysak
Canadiens GM Marc Bergevin announced Tuesday morning that the team has agreed to terms on a three-year, NHL entry-level contract with centre Jan Mysak.
The Canadiens selected the 5-foot-11, 175-pounder from the Czech Republic in the second round (48th overall) of the 2020 NHL Draft. In 13 games this season with the Rocket, Mysak has 2-0-2 totals.
The contract, which has an average annual salary of US$850,333, will pay Mysak $750,000 in the NHL for the 2021-22 and 2022-23 seasons and $775,000 in 2023-24. He will also receive a $92,500 signing bonus each year. Mysak’s AHL salary will be $80,000.
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The Vancouver Canucks have placed all-star goalie Thatcher Demko on the long-term injured reserve list retroactively.
“It’s just cap related,” coach Rick Tocchet said after practice Wednesday. “We get some cap relief, that’s all it is.”
The 28-year-old netminder has been considered week to week since being sidelined with a lower-body injury midway through Vancouver’s 5-0 win over the Winnipeg Jets on March 9.
That injury designation hasn’t changed, Tocchet said.
Demko boasts a 34-18-2 record this season, with a .917 save percentage, a 2.47 goals-against average and five shutouts.
Casey DeSmith has taken over the starting job for Vancouver, going 3-2-1 since Demko’s injury. He has a .899 save percentage on the season with a 2.73 goals-against average and one shutout.
The earliest Demko could be back in the Canucks’ lineup is April 6 against the Kings in Los Angeles.
He’s expected to be a key piece as Vancouver (45-19-8) prepares for its first playoff appearance since the COVID-shortened 2019-20 campaign.
Canucks general manager Patrik Allvin also announced Wednesday that the club has called up forward Arshdeep Bains from the Abbotsford Canucks of the American Hockey League.
“I’d like to see where [Bains is] at,” Tocchet said, noting he isn’t sure whether the 23-year-old winger will slot into the lineup when the Canucks host the Dallas Stars on Thursday.
WATCH | Bains makes NHL debut
Surrey, B.C.’s Arshdeep Bains makes Canucks debut
1 month ago
Duration 2:20
Arshdeep Bains from Surrey, B.C., has made his NHL debut with the Vancouver Canucks Tuesday night against the Colorado Avalanche. As CBC’s Joel Ballard reports, it’s been a hard-fought journey for the hometown kid to the big leagues.
Bains played five games for the NHL team in February before being sent back to Abbotsford.
“He went down, he’s done a couple of things that we like, and he’s got some speed,” Tocchet said.
Vancouver may get another forward back in the lineup Thursday.
Dakota Joshua practised in a full-contact jersey on Wednesday for the first time since suffering an upper-body injury in Vancouver’s 4-2 win over the Blackhawks in Chicago on Feb. 13.
The physical winger, who’s set to become an unrestricted free agent this summer, has a career-high 26 points (13 goals, 13 assists) this season.
Sitting out injured “hasn’t been fun,” Joshua said.
“It feels like forever,” he said. “But at this point, that’s behind me and I’m moving forward.”
“I thought that we were ready to go,” Ottawa coach Jacques Martin said. “We got some pucks at the net, we got people at the net. Took advantage of our opportunities and, I think, built a nice lead. And then I thought, in the third period, we continued again. Our goaltending was good. Made some key saves. But I thought we shut them down in the third period good.”
“If you want to win, you need balance,” Pinto said. “And we had that tonight and it’s going to be big for the back-to-back tomorrow (against the Chicago Blackhawks) to have that same thing. So, going to need all the guys on board.”
“We wanted, I guess, to play as individuals,” Clifton said. “I’m disappointed we let ‘Upie’ down, he’s the heart and soul of this team. He’s kept us in so many games, and just to not show up and play that careless style, give them freebies all over the place. … Yeah, obviously, the first 20 really dictated the rest of the game.”
Artem Zub gave Ottawa a 1-0 lead at 2:37 of the first period. He stuffed in a loose puck on the goal line after Katchouk’s shot was redirected by Mark Kastelic between Luukkonen’s pads.
Katchouk made it 2-0 at 4:56, tipping Parker Kelly’s shot from the top of the right face-off circle past Luukkonen.
“It’s keeping the consistency with good effort, right habits,” Katchouk said. “The small things matter so much in this game. And obviously, it worked out tonight with the tip. But kudos to my linemates. ‘Kels’ and ‘Kassy,’ they worked hard to get the puck as well. Those two battle hard every night as well. We feed off each other, and it’s good to play with them.”