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Price, Canadiens battle Flyers in Philly

Nov 22, 2010 - 4:19 PM (Sports Network) - Canadiens goaltender Carey Price has been nearly flawless over the past two weeks. The Flyers know that first hand.

Fresh off his fourth shutout of the season, Price will try to lead Montreal to its second victory over Philadelphia in less than seven days when the two clubs clash at the Wells Fargo Center for the first time since last season's Eastern Conference Finals.

Price has been red hot over Montreal's current 5-1-0 stretch, posting three shutouts and a 1.00 goals-against average. One of those blankings came last Tuesday at home versus Philadelphia, a 41-save effort that back stopped a 3-0 victory and handed the Flyers their first regulation loss at the time since Oct. 25, ending a 9-0-1 run.

Though the Flyers eliminated the Canadiens in five games in last year's conference finals, winning all three games in Philadelphia and claiming three of their four wins in the series by way of a shutout, Montreal has won five of the last seven regular-season meetings and seven of the last eight played in Philadelphia not counting the playoffs.

The two clubs are meeting in the City of Brotherly Love for the first time since the Flyers' series-clinching Game 5 victory on May 24.

Price, who backed up Jaroslav Halak in last year's postseason before the latter was dealt to St. Louis in the offseason, is 6-1-0 with a 1.64 GAA and two shutouts versus the Flyers in the regular season.

The 23-year-old's latest gem came on Saturday at home versus the Maple Leafs as Price made 30 saves in a 2-0 victory for his eighth career shutout.

"I did try to make myself big and I guess I was in the right spot at the right time for all the shots," Price said.

Jeff Halpern netted a short-handed goal and Michael Cammalleri lit the lamp on a power play for the Canadiens, who had a four-game winning streak snapped Thursday with a 3-0 loss to Nashville.

The Flyers, meanwhile, dropped an 8-7 home decision to Tampa Bay two days after their loss in Montreal, but avoided a third loss in a row on Saturday with a 5-4 shootout victory in Washington.

Danny Briere notched the shootout's lone tally and Brian Boucher stopped all three skaters he faced in the deciding session after making 33 saves in the first 65 minutes.

Boucher, making his first start since Oct. 25, did allow three power-play goals in the third period, including the game-tying tally with 38.8 seconds left.

"The last few games, we're taking a lot of penalties and giving up a lot of power-play goals," Briere said. "But 5-on-5, we didn't give up much. A few mistakes, but I thought we played very composed."

Claude Giroux netted his team-leading 11th goal, Jeff Carter his 10th of the season and Andreas Nodl also scored. Mike Richards finished with a goal and an assist.

Rookie Sergei Bobrovsky had made 12 straight starts in net before backing up Boucher in Saturday's win. He made 25 saves in the loss to the Canadiens last week, while Boucher is 1-6-0 with a 2.81 GAA in his career versus the Habs.