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Host, TSN The Reporters with Dave Hodge

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In Sunday's edition, TSN's Dave Hodge has his thumbs up to goaltenders who struggle but never give up across the league and to Montreal Canadiens netminder Carey Price, who is making a strong case to be NHL MVP.

Thumbs up to all the goalies who had reason to believe they might never dress for an NHL game, or play in an NHL game, or win an NHL game. "All" the goalies? Yes, there's a bunch of goalies who've done all that, and who might have suffered "upper-body" injuries by pinching themselves.

There's Rob Zepp, an NHL goalie for the first time at the age of 33, winning his first shootout yesterday as the Philadelphia Flyers can actually claim to be back in a playoff race.

There's MacKenzie Skapski, a winner for the New York Rangers at Buffalo on Friday, and Louis Domingue, who made a memorable NHL debut as an Arizona Coyote with a victory over the Canadiens in Montreal earlier this season.

There's Andrew Hammond, never drafted, who won his first start for Ottawa, was given another shot last night against Florida, and won again.

This sort of fame may be fleeting, of course, but if the aforementioned goalies should hit roadblocks in their careers, they can find inspiration in the recent statistics posted by Devan Dubnyk of the Minnesota Wild.

If there's a clearing house for goalies without teams, Dubnyk could have been the doorman, but then the Wild came calling and eHarmony couldn't do better. Dubnyk's record with his fifth NHL team is 12-2-1, and amazingly, five of those wins have been shutouts and he has beaten his first NHL team, the Edmonton Oilers, five times this season. There's always hope, if goalies and teams that need them can find the right match.

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And now to goalies who are accustomed to winning—thumbs up to Carey Price, for another 30-save performance in a win over Columbus that saw the Montreal Canadiens continue to struggle at the other end of the ice.

Among teams currently sitting in the 16 playoff spots, the Canadiens rank 15th in goals scored, ahead of only Boston. As luck might have it, Montreal could draw the Bruins as a first-round opponent. But let's not get too far ahead. The offensively-challenged Habs would have to stay where they are and the Bruins would have to make the playoffs.

Otherwise, the Canadiens are liable to meet a team that scores better than they do. Does it matter if Price keeps winning the tight, low-scoring games? That's a hot debate in Montreal, where first place in the East is not enough to satisfy the critics. They're calling for help at the trade deadline, because it asks too much of Price to take the Habs to a Stanley Cup if they can't ease the pressure on him.

He has gone from a Hart Trophy candidate to an MVP lock. The Canadiens go on the road for six of their next seven games, including three in California. How many should Price play? How many can he win? It's all about hockey in Montreal. It's all about the goalie.