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BROSSARD, Quebec -- The Montreal Canadiens have been in this situation before, expect the stakes were not nearly as high.
Carey Price returned from representing Canada at the 2014 Sochi Olympics with a gold medal around his neck as well as a lower-body injury.
The Canadiens said at the time that Price aggravated a previous injury at the Olympics and that his absence would not last very long.
It wound up being two weeks.
In Price's absence Peter Budaj was called upon to carry the load during a very difficult stretch of eight games; six of the opponents qualified for the Stanley Cup Playoffs this season.
Budaj started seven of those eight games and won two, none of them in regulation, and put up a 3.51 goals-against average and .868 save percentage in that span.
Price's injury led the Canadiens to call up Dustin Tokarski from the Hamilton Bulldogs of the American Hockey League, and he got one start in that stretch, making 39 saves in regulation and overtime and stopping four of six attempts in the shootout in a 4-3 Canadiens win on the road against the Anaheim Ducks.
Price returned from his injury at home against the Ottawa Senators on March 15, when the Canadiens erased a 4-1 deficit in the final 3:22 of regulation to win 5-4 in overtime. Montreal had a game a day later on the road against the Buffalo Sabres and coach Michel Therrien decided to leave Price at home to recover.
Instead of going with Budaj, Therrien chose to start Tokarski and was rewarded with a 29-save shutout in a 2-0 win, the first NHL shutout of Tokarski’s career.
Fast forward two months and Therrien is faced with the same decision for Game 2 of the Eastern Conference Final at Bell Centre on Monday (8 p.m. ET; NBCSN, CBC, RDS) with the New York Rangers leading the best-of-7 series 1-0.
Budaj or Tokarski?
Granted, this is nowhere near the same situation as a late-season game in Buffalo, but perhaps Therrien's call March 16 could be an indicator of what is to come Monday.
With Price lost for at least the duration of the series, the decision facing Therrien ahead of Game 2 is not an enviable one.
Budaj has been Price's backup all season, and one might guess that would put him in the driver's seat to start Game 2. However, his playoff history is quite weak.
In seven career playoff games with the Colorado Avalanche and the Canadiens, Budaj is 0-2 with a 5.13 GAA and .843 save percentage. He has allowed 10 goals on 39 shots (.744 save percentage) in three playoff games with the Canadiens.
Then there's Tokarski, who never has played in an NHL playoff game and has 10 regular-season starts under his belt. But he has a solid history as a big-game goalie.
Tokarski was the MVP of the 2008 Memorial Cup when he helped lead the Spokane Chiefs of the Western Hockey League to the championship, making 53 saves in a hostile environment in the final to defeat the host Kitchener Rangers of the Ontario Hockey League.
Tokarski was the starting goaltender for Canada the following season at the 2009 IIHF World Junior Championship and helped that team win the gold medal, stopping 39 of 40 shots in a 5-1 win against Sweden in the championship game.
Tokarski also has 20 games of AHL playoff experience, including 14 in 2012 to help lead the Norfolk Admirals to the Calder Cup. In those 14 games he went 12-2 with a 1.46 GAA and .944 save percentage.
Budaj or Tokarski? Veteran poise or big-game pedigree?
It has come to this for the Canadiens.
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