MONTREAL — The Montreal Canadiens reassigned goalie Carey Price and forward Brendan Gallagher to the Laval Rocket of the American Hockey League on Sunday for conditioning as they return from injuries.
Price and Gallagher will take part in the Rocket’s morning skate Monday before facing the Toronto Marlies in their AHL season finale later at the Bell Centre.
Price, who missed several games this season with a lower-body injury and a concussion, is expected to play half the game. The star netminder has not played since April 19 when he collided with Edmonton Oilers forward Alex Chiasson.
Gallagher broke his thumb when he blocked a shot by teammate Alexander Romanov against the Oilers on April. 5. The winger missed the last 21 games of the season.
Montreal expects both to be back in the lineup for the playoff opener against the Toronto Maple Leafs on Thursday.
It can’t be stressed enough how important Gallagher is to the Canadiens. They were 17-9-9 with him and 7-11-0 without him.
Price is also a key cog, and will be needed against their biggest rival. Though Jake Allen, his backup, outplayed Price in the regular season, Allen is only 28th in goals saved above average.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.