Canadiens to start rookie G Primeau vs. Avs

Montreal Canadiens goaltender Cayden Primeau, the son of former NHL All-Star forward Keith Primeau, was scheduled to make his NHL debut Thursday night against the Colorado Avalanche, head coach Claude Julien announced. "My message to him tonight is be true to yourself, play with the confidence you showed to get here," Julien said of Primeau after the morning skate. "If you do that, I think you're going to give us a good chance to win a hockey game."

The decision was based on the Canadiens having to play games on consecutive nights and their desire to rest starting goalie Carey Price, who stopped 21 of 23 shots in Montreal's 4-2 victory over the New York Islanders on Tuesday night. Following Thursday's home game, the Canadiens visit the New York Rangers on Friday night.

After backup goaltender Keith Kinkaid was put on waivers, the Canadiens on Tuesday called up the 20-year-old Primeau from the American Hockey League's Laval Rocket. He compiled a 7-4-1 record there with a .910 save percentage and 2.58 goals-against average. "He's calm, he's square. A lot of goalies seem to be in the right position most of the time, and he's one of those guys," Julien said. "He doesn't look like a guy who's scrambling to make a save or to get back into position."

Primeau, who received the Mike Richter Award as college hockey's top goalie in 2018-19 out of Northeastern, was a seventh-round pick (199th overall) by Montreal at the 2017 NHL Draft. Keith Primeau played for the Detroit Red Wings, Hartford Whalers/Carolina Hurricanes and Philadelphia Flyers during his 15-year NHL career, collecting 266 goals and 353 assists.

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