Price, Weber, Gallagher expected to play for Canadiens in Game 1

Carey Price, Shea Weber and Brendan Gallagher are expected to play when the Montreal Canadiens visit the Toronto Maple Leafs in Game 1 of the Stanley Cup First Round on Thursday.

Price, the Canadiens No. 1 goalie, and Gallagher, a forward, practiced Saturday. Weber, a defenseman, did not, but coach Dominique Ducharme said he expects the Montreal captain to play.
"He's skating, he's preparing, and he's going to be practicing with us shortly," Ducharme said of Weber.
Price missed 19 of Montreal's final 21 regular-season games, including the last 13. On April 19, he was making his second start after missing six games because of a lower-body injury when he sustained a concussion in a collision with Edmonton Oilers forward Alex Chiasson.
Price was 12-7-5 this season with a 2.64 goals-against average, .901 save percentage (the second-lowest in his 14-season NHL career) and one shutout in 25 starts.
The 33-year-old is the Canadiens playoff leader in games played (707), wins (360) and saves (19,174).
Jake Allen, who made 15 of his 27 starts when Price was out, was 11-12-5 with a 2.68 GAA and .907 save percentage in 29 games in his first season with Montreal.
"A guy like Carey, to have a goalie like him who is capable of making big saves, of weathering the storm in certain parts of a game, it's a source of confidence for our players," Ducharme said.
Gallagher, who missed 21 games with a broken thumb, practiced with usual linemates Phillip Danault, who missed the last three games of the season with a concussion, and Tomas Tatar and said he will "be good to go."
"It doesn't take long for us," Gallagher said. "We spend enough time together so there should be no rustiness. I think everyone's feeling pretty good and hopefully we get back to doing what we do."
Gallagher's line will be tasked with covering Auston Matthews and Mitchell Marner on Toronto's top line.
"When you're on the ice against them we're prepared to compete and just make it as difficult as possible," Gallagher said. "We know how dangerous they are, those two together especially. It's a big focal point for the series obviously, and we're going to try and do a job on them."

Gallagher scored 23 points (14 goals, nine assists) in 35 games, fourth on Montreal in goals behind forwards Tyler Toffoli (28), Josh Anderson (17) and Nick Suzuki (15). He spoke of the importance of Price and Weber returning to the lineup.
"These guys are so hungry to win," Gallagher said. "They do the right thing day in and day out. And in terms of leadership, this is the time of year that you really notice it. so I think they both have their own individual personalities that seem to rub off on the team.
"'Pricey' is perfect for this time of year. He's so calm back there. You know the emotions of playoff hockey, the hardest thing, especially for younger players, is to control your emotions, and when you have a guy in net, whether it's Pricey or Jake, they're both so calm back there and it seems to have a calming influence throughout your team."
Weber missed last eight games with an upper-body injury. Jeff Petry quarterbacked each power-play unit Saturday, and Brett Kulak practiced with Ben Chiarot, who forms the top pair with Weber.
Weber scored 19 points (six goals, 13 assists) in 48 games and was third on the Canadiens in power-play points (15; four goals, 11 assists) behind Petry and Suzuki.
"'Webs' is a warrior in every sense of the word," Gallagher said. "He will battle through everything, he will compete every single night, he will make it very difficult to play against.
"And I can tell you for sure, when you ask a lot of guys in the League which D-man you want to go up against for seven straight games, I don't think there's a lot of guys that are going to pick Webs. It's going to be physically taxing on every single player that has to play against him every night, and he just brings it. That's who he is."