Price becomes winningest goaltender in Canadiens history

MONTREAL -- With a portrait of Jacques Plante hanging just a few feet away, Carey Price passed around the credit for his latest accomplishment.

Price made 20 saves Tuesday night and became the winningest goaltender in the storied history of the Montreal Canadiens, who held off the Detroit Red Wings for a 3-1 victory.

It was win No. 315 for Price, snapping a tie with Plante atop the team leaderboard. Plante spent parts of 11 seasons with Montreal during his Hall of Fame career, winning five consecutive Stanley Cups from 1956-60.

"I'm very proud obviously, first and foremost, to be standing here today with this puck in my hand," said Price, who earned his 29th win of the season. "I'm definitely thankful for all the help I've gotten along the way. There's been ups and downs throughout this whole process, and I've played with a lot of great guys and have played on some excellent teams.

"I'll definitely have some time to reflect on it but I don't think that time is quite yet."

Price, who was selected fifth overall by Montreal in the 2005 entry draft, improved to 315-221-67 in 12 seasons with the Canadiens.

"I feel like most people who have donned this jersey laid it all out there," said Price, reflecting on the Canadiens greats of the past. "I'm proud to be part of this."

Max Domi had two goals and Brett Kulak also scored as the Canadiens (37-26-7) stopped a two-game slide. Tomas Tatar, who played for the Red Wings from 2010 to 2018, had two assists against his former team.

Andreas Athanasiou scored in the third period for Detroit (24-36-10), which has won just once in its past 12 games. Jonathan Bernier stopped 33 shots.

The Red Wings have dropped their last nine games against the Canadiens.

"We had our scoring chances but Carey made some big saves in the third," Bernier said. "We had the chance to tie it up but we couldn't find the back of the net. Everyone knows it's hard right now. We can't buy any wins. But we have to stick with it. At some point you have to get rewarded."

Price was on his game from the opening faceoff, making a nice pad save on Athanasiou on a breakaway in the game's first minute.

With the game still scoreless in the second period, Price made a spectacular pad save on Michael Rasmussen before Shea Weber knocked the rebound away out of midair.

Domi put Montreal in front 12:27 into the second when he deflected Andrew Shaw's hard pass from the half-wall past Bernier for his 23rd goal of the season.

Kulak made it 2-0 five minutes later with a one-timer through traffic that knuckled on Bernier and trickled past him.

Athanasiou got Detroit on the board when he beat Price between the pads 40 seconds into the third period.

With 12 minutes to play, Price made his biggest saves of the night. The 31-year-old was fully outstretched to deny Tyler Bertuzzi on a breakaway before freezing the puck on Frans Nielsen's dangerous rebound.

"He's the best in the world for a reason, he has been for a long time and he will be for an even longer time," said Domi, who added an empty-netter with 49 seconds to play. "It's honestly insane to put into words what he's accomplished. It's just another level."

Game notes
It was the last of four meetings between the Canadiens and Red Wings this season. . Detroit F Dylan Larkin (neck injury) missed his fourth straight game.

UP NEXT

Red Wings: Host the Tampa Bay Lightning on Thursday night.

Canadiens: Visit the New York Islanders on Thursday night.