Carey Price hoping to make season debut Thursday vs. Coyotes

Carey Price joined his teammates for practice on Wednesday as the Montreal Canadiens netminder moved closer to making his season debut.

Sidelined for Montreal’s first three games due to a flu that spurned numerous conspiracy theories about his health, Price had been skating on his own and facing shots for several days.

Quarantined away from his wife and daughter, Price told reporters that he lost between 7-8 pounds and kept busy by watching the Major League Baseball playoffs.

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Price said he hopes to play Thursday night when the Canadiens host the Arizona Coyotes. Head coach Michel Therrien said he was “optimistic” about the goaltender returning very soon.

“Today, he had his best day,” Therrien said. “He looked really good and he felt really good out there. We’ll see tomorrow morning and how he’s going to feel and he’s going to sit down with the medical staff. But one thing I know, Carey can’t wait to play and same thing for me, I can’t wait to see him play, and same thing with our fans.”

The Habs have been just fine in Price’s absence, with a 2-0-1 record. Al Montoya, who was signed over the summer, has done well with a .964 even strength save percentage (per Corsica Hockey) while he keeps the crease warm for the franchise’s No. 1 netminder.

“He’s a veteran guy. He’s not rattled or shook by anything,” Price said. “It’s nice to have that in our room. Real easy guy to get along with and he’s playing great hockey. It takes a lot of the pressure off of me. It’s been great.”

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Sean Leahy is the associate editor for Puck Daddy on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at puckdaddyblog@yahoo.com or follow him on Twitter! Follow @Sean_Leahy