The Montreal Canadiens Carey Price is certainly in the running for the Vezina Trophy, and hes making a case for the Hart Trophy, too. Price has looked every bit like an MVP against the Arizona Coyotes over the years. Coming off back-to-back shutouts, Price tries to improve to 7-0 in the series as the surging Canadiens host the Coyotes on Sunday. Price has stopped a combined 60 shots in consecutive 1-0 wins over the Rangers on Thursday and Washington on Saturday. He tied Hall of Famer Patrick Roy for fifth on the teams all-time shutout list with 29 after Max Pacioretty scored 3:08 into overtime against the Capitals. Price has compiled a 1.43 goals-against average in winning five straight and 13 of his last 16 starts. Hes surrendered two goals or fewer in all but one of those appearances, Hes amazing. Hes so humble. He just comes to the rink and does his job. A guy like that doesnt have to open his mouth once to be the best leader on this team, Pacioretty, who also provided all the offense against New York, told the teams official website. The way he shows up, the way he handles himself, the way he carries himself, hes the backbone of this team. You get goose bumps when youre stepping out of the tunnel because you want to step up for him. With 67 points, the Canadiens (32-13-3) are one in back of Tampa Bay for the Atlantic Division lead with three games in hand. They are an NHL-best 15-3-1 since Dec. 9. Montreal has won five in a row, with the last four all coming by one goal. Were all making contributions. Its a team sport. Guys are doing their part, Price said. Im relying on the guys around me and theyre relying on me. Right now, weve got a perfect harmony going. Prices success shouldnt come as much of a surprise to the Coyotes (17-26-6), who havent been able to get much past the star goaltender. Price has won each of his six starts against Arizona behind a 1.65 GAA, surrendering one or two goals in each. Montreal had won nine straight in the series before dropping the last meeting, 5-2 at Arizona on March 6. Mike Smith made 24 saves for the Coyotes, improving to 3-1-3 with a 2.20 GAA against the Canadiens. While Price ranks among the leaders at his position in several key categories, Smith is having a season hed rather forget. Smiths 21 losses are the most in the NHL, and he owns a league-worst 3.49 GAA. Smith stopped just 15 of 20 shots before getting pulled in favor of rookie Louis Domingue during Saturdays 7-2 loss at Ottawa. Where we are with some key veterans out and playing some young players, the bottom line is your goaltender has to be good for you and ours wasnt good, coach Dave Tippett said. Defenseman Zbynek Michalek scored his second goal of the season for Arizona, which dropped to 1-6-2 in its last nine. Its not how we want to be. We want to be a hard team to play against, Michalek said. I just was embarrassed and I think everybody should feel the same way. Theres no excuses. The Coyotes franchise has been outscored 100-43 in going 1-19-1 with two ties in its last 23 visits to Montreal. Pacioretty leads the Canadiens with 23 goals and 40 points, 28 of which have come in 24 home games. Montreal is 17-5-2 on its own ice. Roger Clemens Jersey . Luke Wileman and I stood in the corridor outside of the Vancouver Whitecaps dressing room at BC Place in Vancouver. Mitch Moreland Jersey . -- At the beginning of training camp, Andrew Bogut set a goal to play all 82 regular-season games and regain his place among the NBAs best centres. http://www.officialredsoxfanstore.com/au...red-sox-jersey/. Louis, MO (SportsNetwork. Fred Lynn Jersey . Trailing 2-1 from the first leg, Fiorentina levelled on aggregate in the 14th minute when Joaquin Sanchez Rodriguez headed back a long ball from David Pizarro and Pasqual smashed home an angled volley. Blake Swihart Jersey . Kyrie Irving and the Cleveland Cavaliers were left fretting over an MRI on the stars left knee. Paul George scored 21 points, Roy Hibbert added 19 and the Pacers used a dominant fourth quarter to blow out the Cavaliers 91-76 on Tuesday The Pacers (25-5) have won eight in a row over Cleveland, their longest active streak against any opponent.Got a question on rule clarification, comments on rule enforcements or some memorable NHL stories? Kerry wants to answer your emails at cmonref@tsn.ca. Hi Kerry, I enjoy reading your column - hope you keep it up! In the final seconds of the third period of the Winnipeg/Montreal game, Brendan Gallagher looked like he was attempting to get back on-side. However, as he was starting to skate back, Al Montoya, Zach Bogosian and Jacob Trouba blatantly interfered with his progress. If the referee wasnt around, I would have thought that he just missed it. However, this all enfolded in front of a referee. It seemed the ref either purposely wanted the game to be over, sadistically wanted Gallagher to get roughed up, or favoured the Jets to win! Please explain why it wasnt a penalty and what (if any) you would have done differently. Regards, Lee Hi Lee: I can assure you that none of the three assertions you made were even remotely part of the referees mindset or affected his ultimate decision not to assess a penalty against the Jets. Instead, Brendan Gallagher engaged in a losing battle of will with the referee when he attempted to draw a penalty by embellishing the contact with Zach Bogosian (twice) and Al Montoya. Once a referee suspects a player is guilty of embellishing he does not want to be fooled into calling a weak penalty as a result of any theatrical performance. The battle lines were pretty much drawn at that point when Jacob Trouba came off the Winnipeg bench on a change with Tobias Enstrom. Troubas most direct route to assume his right defense position from the Jets bench placed him on a collision course with Gallagher, who had just picked himself up off the ice after turning on Bogosians stick, reaching his hand to the rafters and doing a reverse fall onto his back! No penalty call was forthcoming at that point. I would have judged the encounters with Bogosian and Montoya no differently than the referee, based on the embellishment that was first initiated by Gallagher behind the Jets net. The next obvious question you will ask is if the referee deemed there was embellishment, then why not assess offsetting penalties? With under a minute to play and the puck dumped down the icce most referees would prefer to let the minor skirmish quickly play itself out and not affect the manpower on the ice when there was no immediate and direct bearing on the play.dddddddddddd That changed in my judgment however, once Jacob Trouba knocked Gallagher to the ice with a slightly buried shoulder and stick placed across the body of the Canadiens pin-ball forward. With the puck in the neutral zone Trouba needed to give way to Gallagher and pass behind the Montreal player to allow him unimpeded exit from the Jets end zone no differently than forward giving way to a D-man backing up at the blue line. That contact by Trouba was deserving of an interference penalty. The previous embellishments clearly witnessed by the referee would certainly cause some doubt as to the legitimacy of any foul committed against Brendan Gallagher so the refs arm remained down. I ask you to watch the play as objectively as possible and freeze-frame the action at key moments during the battles that took place. You should see Gallaghers hands initiate contact with Bogosian behind the net and the changing body posture of both players throughout the engagement. The final shove by Bogosian should not have caused the net to be pushed in an excessively tipped forward position by Gallagher. During and immediately following each player confrontation Brendan Gallagher made direct eye contact with the referee, including verbal appeals for a penalty call. It became a failed mission. Brendan Gallagher had a much more direct route available to him to exit the Jets end zone. He chose a path that ultimately led him into contact with Al Montoya and deep within the goal crease. Following the Montoya elbow push, Gallagher threw his head back excessively and immediately looked at the referee this time and on two more subsequent occasions hoping to see a raised arm. Gallaghers unnatural fall and look back at the ref after tripping over Bogosians stick completed the trifecta! Players that embellish on a consistent basis run the risk of not receiving the benefit of the doubt when they are legitimately fouled. Brendan Gallagher is too effective and too good a player to develop that unwanted reputation from the refs. 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