So much for Carey Price's (tongue-in-cheek) objective to start 82 games in the Canadiens net this season.
After having played all nine thus far, the most by a Montreal netminder to start a season since Patrick Roy's 11 straight in 1995-96, Price will sit on Long Island Friday night.
Backup Alex Auld will lead the Canadiens against the New York Islanders, the clubs meeting in the second game of a home-and-away set (7 p.m., RDS, TSN-Habs on Bell, CJAD Radio-800).
"I've been waiting for this, and any time you get your first opportunity with a new team, it's an exciting moment," Auld said before heading for an afternoon charter to New York.
"I feel like I've been preparing for this. I'm ready for it."
Price was joking, probably, when he said during training camp that he'd like to start every game this season. Of course, that's not likely in a league where games come fast and furious during many stretches.
This week is one such period, the Canadiens playing four times in six nights. Price will be back in goal Saturday night at home against the Florida Panthers, a game that will mark the return to action of defenceman Andrei Markov.
Head coach Jacques Martin has no problem resting a goalie who's won three straight and helped lift his team to the top of the Eastern Conference standings.
"It's important, with four games this week, that (Price) gets a rest," Martin said following his team's workout in Brossard Thursday. "He's played very well, and it's not like he's going to be out of action a long time. This is an opportunity for him to refresh and continue his hot hand (tomorrow)."
Auld, the free-agent veteran who arrived in Montreal on July 1 as the clearly defined backup, has watched Price go 6-2-1 and earn a shutout while posting a 2.32 average and .913 save percentage.
"Alex has had to deal with this (backup) situation in the past, he's familiar with it," said Martin, who praised the goalie's daily effort in practice. "I expect a good performance from him, and from his teammates in front of him."
The netminder was one of seven Canadiens on Brossard ice Thursday, joined by defencemen Markov, Alexandre Picard and Ryan O'Byrne, and forwards Lars Eller, Mathieu Darche and Dustin Boyd. The rest of the club worked out in the gym before heading to Long Island.
Auld is 1-3-1 lifetime against the Islanders with a 2.80 average and .911 percentage. He has good reason to be optimistic tonight - in seven previous first games with an NHL club, he is 6-1.
The Canadiens are likely to face Rick DiPietro in the New York net Friday night. But they won't see 18-year-old forward Nino Niederreiter, who was returned Thursday to the Western Hockey League's major-junior Portland Winterhawks before a 10th NHL game would have engaged his entry-level contract.
Montreal's thin-air standing is a tribute to the superb performance of its first line - centreman Tomas Plekanec, and wingers Andrei Kostitsyn and Michael Cammalleri have a combined 13 goals, 12 assists and are plus-21.
Only a dreamer or the delusional would have figured Kostitsyn would be the team's leading scorer and point-getter after nine games, with six goals and 10 points.
Slumbering, and in considerable need of production, is the second line of Scott Gomez, Brian Gionta and insert-your-left-winger-here. Gionta has only one goal and one assist; Gomez has one and two.
Martin isn't gravely concerned by his moribund power play, which ranks 30th - dead last - in the NHL with two goals in 32 attempts (6.2 per cent).
At home Wednesday against the Islanders, the Canadiens generated several excellent chances with the man advantage, most audibly P.K. Subban's struck goalpost.
"It's not one player who will make the whole unit," Martin said, refusing to either push the panic button or hang the revival of the power play solely on the creative work of Markov.
"(If we) show more intensity, shoot more often and go to the net with more determination, this will eventually bear fruit."
The penalty kill remains one of the league's best, ranked ninth for having stopped 31 of 36 opposition power plays (86.1 per cent). The Canadiens have been perfect on the road, airtight in all 15 PK situations.
Five times in the last six games, the Habs have surrendered fewer than 24 shots on Price, a far cry from the shooting galleries seen during parts of last season and against Jaroslav Halak during the playoffs.
Martin credits this to experience, "players knowing the system and doing the job without the puck. In only one game we've allowed more than 12 scoring chances. That's going in the right direction, giving us the opportunity night after night to win games."
The coach would be delighted to see a strong defensive effort again Friday night in Auld's first start as a Canadien, Price pausing in the wings only to catch his breath.
After having played all nine thus far, the most by a Montreal netminder to start a season since Patrick Roy's 11 straight in 1995-96, Price will sit on Long Island Friday night.
Backup Alex Auld will lead the Canadiens against the New York Islanders, the clubs meeting in the second game of a home-and-away set (7 p.m., RDS, TSN-Habs on Bell, CJAD Radio-800).
"I've been waiting for this, and any time you get your first opportunity with a new team, it's an exciting moment," Auld said before heading for an afternoon charter to New York.
"I feel like I've been preparing for this. I'm ready for it."
Price was joking, probably, when he said during training camp that he'd like to start every game this season. Of course, that's not likely in a league where games come fast and furious during many stretches.
This week is one such period, the Canadiens playing four times in six nights. Price will be back in goal Saturday night at home against the Florida Panthers, a game that will mark the return to action of defenceman Andrei Markov.
Head coach Jacques Martin has no problem resting a goalie who's won three straight and helped lift his team to the top of the Eastern Conference standings.
"It's important, with four games this week, that (Price) gets a rest," Martin said following his team's workout in Brossard Thursday. "He's played very well, and it's not like he's going to be out of action a long time. This is an opportunity for him to refresh and continue his hot hand (tomorrow)."
Auld, the free-agent veteran who arrived in Montreal on July 1 as the clearly defined backup, has watched Price go 6-2-1 and earn a shutout while posting a 2.32 average and .913 save percentage.
"Alex has had to deal with this (backup) situation in the past, he's familiar with it," said Martin, who praised the goalie's daily effort in practice. "I expect a good performance from him, and from his teammates in front of him."
The netminder was one of seven Canadiens on Brossard ice Thursday, joined by defencemen Markov, Alexandre Picard and Ryan O'Byrne, and forwards Lars Eller, Mathieu Darche and Dustin Boyd. The rest of the club worked out in the gym before heading to Long Island.
Auld is 1-3-1 lifetime against the Islanders with a 2.80 average and .911 percentage. He has good reason to be optimistic tonight - in seven previous first games with an NHL club, he is 6-1.
The Canadiens are likely to face Rick DiPietro in the New York net Friday night. But they won't see 18-year-old forward Nino Niederreiter, who was returned Thursday to the Western Hockey League's major-junior Portland Winterhawks before a 10th NHL game would have engaged his entry-level contract.
Montreal's thin-air standing is a tribute to the superb performance of its first line - centreman Tomas Plekanec, and wingers Andrei Kostitsyn and Michael Cammalleri have a combined 13 goals, 12 assists and are plus-21.
Only a dreamer or the delusional would have figured Kostitsyn would be the team's leading scorer and point-getter after nine games, with six goals and 10 points.
Slumbering, and in considerable need of production, is the second line of Scott Gomez, Brian Gionta and insert-your-left-winger-here. Gionta has only one goal and one assist; Gomez has one and two.
Martin isn't gravely concerned by his moribund power play, which ranks 30th - dead last - in the NHL with two goals in 32 attempts (6.2 per cent).
At home Wednesday against the Islanders, the Canadiens generated several excellent chances with the man advantage, most audibly P.K. Subban's struck goalpost.
"It's not one player who will make the whole unit," Martin said, refusing to either push the panic button or hang the revival of the power play solely on the creative work of Markov.
"(If we) show more intensity, shoot more often and go to the net with more determination, this will eventually bear fruit."
The penalty kill remains one of the league's best, ranked ninth for having stopped 31 of 36 opposition power plays (86.1 per cent). The Canadiens have been perfect on the road, airtight in all 15 PK situations.
Five times in the last six games, the Habs have surrendered fewer than 24 shots on Price, a far cry from the shooting galleries seen during parts of last season and against Jaroslav Halak during the playoffs.
Martin credits this to experience, "players knowing the system and doing the job without the puck. In only one game we've allowed more than 12 scoring chances. That's going in the right direction, giving us the opportunity night after night to win games."
The coach would be delighted to see a strong defensive effort again Friday night in Auld's first start as a Canadien, Price pausing in the wings only to catch his breath.
