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Goalie nods: Neuvirth goes for Caps, Budaj for Montreal

michalneuvirthgetty

Some news and notes from around the crease...

Neuvirth to face Canucks

Braden Holtby will rest for the first time in six games on Monday as Michal Neuvirth gets the net against the Canucks in Vancouver.

Holtby sits with a 4-5-0 record with a 3.07 GAA and .913 save percentage, paving the way for Neuvirth -- he of the 1-1-0 record with a 3.08 GAA and .893 save percentage -- to make his fourth appearance of the season but second in as many games, as he came on in relief of Holtby in Saturday’s 5-2 loss in Calgary.

Neuvirth has one career appearance against Vancouver, a 7-4 loss in Oct. 2011 in which he allowed four goals on 26 shots in 40 minutes of relief action.

Budaj in for Habs

The Canadiens face a tall task in taking on the Rangers in their first game of the season at MSG on Monday, and they’ll do it with backup Peter Budaj in goal.

Budaj, 31, will play for just the second time this season and the first since a 4-1 win over Edmonton on Oct. 10, a game in which he stopped 27 of 28 shots.

Carey Price has been one of the league’s busiest netminders this season, so it’ll be interesting to see how the Habs do in front of a different face (and how Budaj fares after so much time off).

Elsewhere...

-- As reported earlier, Henrik Lundqvist will return from a two-game absence to face the Habs tonight.

-- Injured Carolina goalie Cam Ward will indeed miss 2-4 weeks with a lower-body ailment.

-- Josh Harding’s minor injury won’t keep him from backing up Niklas Backstrom vs. Chicago.