from Steve Ellis of The Hockey News,

The Carey Price we saw during the regular season was not the Carey Price we've grown accustomed to. At his best, Price was an average starting goalie. At his worst, he truly was playing some of the worst hockey of his career. But he did enough early on - and Jake Allen helped along the way - to send the Canadiens to the post-season. After a long break from a concussion, Price seemed rejuvenated, like he needed a break. He got it, and he's been unstoppable ever since.

If Montreal ends up winning the Stanley Cup, it's hard to think anyone but him would be the one holding the Conn Smythe when everything is said and done. Price's surface stats - a .934 save percentage and 2.02 goals against average - are tops in the playoffs. His .934 SP and 3.06 GSAA is beaten by only Andrei Vasilevskiy among goalies with nine or more starts. Without Price, the Canadiens aren't competing for Lord Stanley's trophy for the first time in 28 years.

One of the biggest knocks on Price's career legacy has always been his inability to take the Canadiens to the Stanley Cup. It's silly, because even when he's been inhuman in the past, we're still talking about a franchise that has had trouble attracting high-end talent for decades. You need more than a good goaltender to win championships.

But now they've got the goaltending AND the scoring to bring them to the final round. So now it's up to Price to once again hold his end of the bargain, and nothing about his play so far suggests that it won't be possible.

So what has made Price perform so well in the playoffs? For starters, the "calm, cool and collected" Carey Price we're used to is performing like we're used to. Back in March, after a rough few weeks for Price, the Canadiens let go former goalie coach Stephane Waite and hired Sean Burke. Price started the season with a 5-43 record with a .888 SP and 3.13 GAA in 12 games prior to the change. Price immediately saw an improvement in his game with Burke at the helm, finishing the regular season with a 7-3-2 record with a .916 SP and 2.16 GAA.

Whether or not Burke was the reason why Price turned things around has still yet to be seen, but it's a true return to the fundamentals that made him so good in the past.

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