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Panthers Mike Smith Jersey , set to play their first home game since Dec. 15, have received a break from the injury report.Montreal Canadiens goalie Carey Price, who won the Vezina Trophy in 2015 as the NHL’s best netminder, will miss the Panthers game on Friday night due to a lower-body injury.Price had a 1.96 goals-against average in his great 2014-2015 season, but he hasn’t been quite the same since knee surgery the following year.Article continues below ...This season, Price is 15-10-4 with a 2.84 GAA. He will likely be replaced by his backup, Antti Niemi, who is 4-3-1 with a 4.14 GAA. Niemi’s save percentage is .876 compared to .904 for Price.Florida, which is 4-0-1 in its past five games for its second-best five-game stretch of the season, is expected to start goalie Roberto Luongo (8-6-1, .905 save percentage Artemi Panarin Jersey , 3.00 GAA).Friday will also mark the first time Canadiens forward Max Domi has played against the Panthers since he was suspended for the rest of the preseason schedule for punching Florida defenseman Aaron Ekblad.Luongo called Domi’s punch “gutless” and said the act won’t be forgotten.Domi, though, didn’t want to discuss the matter when Montreal’s media asked him about it this week.“All we are focused on is the game,” Domi said. “It’s a hockey game, and we’re focused on finding a way to get two points. We want to start this (three-game) road trip the right way.”The Panthers have been short-handed at forward this season as Vincent Trocheck (ankle), Nick Bjugstad (upper body), Jamie McGinn (back) and former captain Derek MacKenzie (shoulder) are all out.Trocheck, a 2017 All-Star, scored a combined total of 54 goals the past two years, never missing a game. His absence hurts the Panthers offensively but also defensively because of his speed and disruptive ability.Bjugstad, who scored 19 goals in 82 games last season http://www.officialcoyotes.com/authentic-adidas-oliver-ekman-larsson-jersey , is another major loss since he was a top-six forward in the Panthers lineup.Without those two, the Panthers rely on four forwards primarily: Mike Hoffman and Evgenii Dadonov, who share the team lead with 17 goals each; Jonathan Huberdeau, who tops Florida in assists (33) and points (42); and captain Aleksander Barkov, who is second with 36 points.Domi has scored 14 goals and leads Montreal in assists (21) and points (35). Brendan Gallagher leads Montreal with 15 goals.In other Canadiens news, defenseman Karl Alzner could return to the lineup after being called up from the American Hockey League’s Belleville franchise. He was promoted after defenseman David Schlemko was placed on injured reserve.“I was a bit surprised when I got the call,” Alzner told the Montreal media. “But I’m happy. It’s a nice Christmas present.” NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) — Pekke Rinne and Viktor Arvidsson gave Nashville more of the same Thursday night. A little extra from newcomer Brian Boyle helped make the difference.Rinne stopped 34 shots, Arvidsson and Boyle scored, and the Nashville Predators beat the Montreal Canadiens 3-1 to snap a three-game skid.Rinne was sharp, especially in the second period Richard Panik Jersey , when he turned aside all 21 Montreal shots he faced.“I thought Pekka was outstanding,” Nashville coach Peter Laviolette said.Tomas Tatar scored and Carey Price made 35 saves for Montreal, which has lost consecutive games for the first time since early January.“I thought it was a pretty entertaining game going both ways,” Price said. “I thought we held our own for sure. We don’t like the result, but I thought we played a good team well.”With the game tied at a 1 midway through the third, Boyle and Arvidsson struck 2:24 apart to pull away.Boyle’s goal, his first since being traded to the Predators, came at 8:36 on a slap shot from the high slot. Former Canadien P.K. Subban set Boyle up with a nice pass from the right side.“We’ve got an active ‘D,’ so you’ve got to be able to cover,” Boyle said. “I had some probably higher quality chances earlier, but whatever Womens Shane Doan Jersey , I’m excited to win. It’s a really good feeling. It’s great to do it at home, too.”Arvidsson had a tap-in at 11:00 thanks to a cross-crease pass from linemate Ryan Johansen. Arvidsson’s 26 goals lead the Predators.Johansen has points in a season-high six consecutive games.Earlier in the game, Price denied Arvidsson on a clear breakaway with 2:40 remaining in the second.Ryan Hartman scored the game’s first goal at 9:49 of the second period. Just outside the Montreal blue line, Hartman knocked down Jonathan Drouin’s clearing attempt and sent a pass to Craig Smith, whose shot attempt was denied by Price. Hartman swooped through the slot and buried the rebound, which was in the air when he connected.The goal was Hartman’s 10th of the season and first since Dec. 13, snapping a 27-game skid. As he skated toward the Nashville bench for celebratory fist bumps, Hartman mimicked removing a monkey off his back and tossing it into the crowd.“It was a long time, longest streak I’ve ever had at any level, so it was a good feeling,” Ryan Hartman said.Montreal played its first game since Saturday Anders Bjork Jersey , and the rust showed early being outshot 16-8 in the first.“Our first period made it look like we hadn’t played in four or five days,” Montreal coach Claude Julien said. “We weren’t very good. In the second period, we seemed to get our legs going. We seemed to find our game, but we didn’t capitalize on our chances. We had lots of them and that’s what probably hurt us in the end.”Tatar evened the game at 1 at 5:26 of the third. The Canadiens entered the Nashville zone on the right side on a 3-on-2 rush. Tatar beat Rinne from the slot off of an impressive pass from Andrew Shaw.Notes: Nashville is 25-3-1 when scoring first this season. … Predators LW Kevin Fiala played his 200th career NHL game. … Nashville D Mattias Ekholm missed the game due to an illness. … Canadiens D Shea Weber, a former Predator captain, played his 900th career NHL game. … Montreal is 15-10-0 against Western Conference opponents this season.UP NEXTCanadiens: Visit Tampa Bay Lightning Saturday.Predators: Visit Vegas Golden Knights Saturday.