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Price, Canadiens blank Flyers

Feb 17, 2008 - 3:55 AM MONTREAL (Ticker) -- Rookie Carey Price seems to be at his best against the Philadelphia Flyers.

Price stopped all 34 shots he faced - including seven with his team at a two-man disadvantage in the third period - to record his first career shutout as the Montreal Canadiens skated past the reeling Flyers, 1-0, on Saturday.

Andrei Kostitsyn scored for the game's only goal for Montreal, which has won two in a row after dropping its previous three games.

Antero Niittymaki finished with 19 saves for Philadelphia, which lost its sixth straight game. Four of the losses have been one-goal decisions.

"This is one of those nights where we did what we had to do, and we were beaten by a goalie that was in excellent form tonight," Philadelphia's Daniel Briere said. "We just couldn't buy one, it just seems. When you're not getting the bounces, everything is going the wrong way for you.

"We had lots of chances and lots of shots, but pucks would hit sticks or go through the crease, or Price would be in good position."

The story of the game, indeed, was Price.

The fifth overall pick in the 2005 draft made 10 saves in the first period, nine in the second and 15 in the third period en route to the shutout.

"You'll always remember your first shutout," the 20-year-old Price said. "I'll call home and share it with my parents. They watch every game, so I'm sure my dad is pretty pumped."

"He made some amazing saves, he looked very confident," said Montreal captain Saku Koivu, who also credited his team's defense corps. "Sometimes you forget the job the defense does in front of him, and I thought they played a great game and moved the puck well. We faced the second-best power play in the league, and I thought our defense did an excellent job on shutting them down."

In addition, it also was the second time Price has handcuffed Philadelphia, as he recorded 35 saves in a 4-1 victory on December 13. That defeat was the first of six consecutive for the Flyers, who went 0-4-2 during that stretch.

Kostitsyn gave Price all the offensive support he needed by netting a power-play goal 3:55 into the second period.

Alexei Kovalev attracted the attention of the Flyers in the slot before feeding a cutting Kostitsyn. The 23-year-old had difficulty unleashing his initial shot, but Kostitsyn was able to get his blade on the puck and put a backhander between Niittymaki's pads before falling to ice.

"It was kind of a broken play when Alex went in there," Koivu said. "It looked like a great move (by Kostitsyn), and sometimes one goal like that is enough to win the game."

The goal was the 18th of the season for Kostitsyn.

The Flyers thought they leveled the contest with 70 seconds remaining in regulation, but there was no goal signaled by the officials.

"The puck just kind of popped up there and I kind of did a sprawl," Price said. "They kept spearing at me, but the ref didn't see where (the puck) was and he blew the whistle."

The teams meet again Sunday in Philadelphia, with Montreal hoping to complete a sweep of the home-and-home series. But the Flyers believe if they follow the same game plan, they can emerge victorious.

"For us everything gets bigger and bigger, especially when you're on a losing streak like this," Briere said. "At least it's fair, both teams are playing back-to-back and they're in the same situation. We just want to keep going the same way we did tonight and hopefully get the bounces (on Sunday)."