Carey Price Notches Consecutive Shutouts for 2nd Time This Season

Montreal Canadiens goaltender Carey Price stopped all 29 shots he faced in Saturday's 2-0 win over the San Jose Sharks, putting up a shutout in back-to-back games for the second time this season, per Sportsnet Stats.

Saturday's victory was preceded by Thursday's 4-0 win over the Carolina Hurricanes, with Price blocking all 31 Carolina shots in the blowout.

The 27-year-old Vezina Trophy front-runner has nine shutouts this season, tying him with Pittsburgh Penguins goaltender Marc-Andre Fleury for tops in the NHL.

Price is all but a lock to be named the league's top goaltender, as he leads the NHL in all three major netminding categories, with 40 wins, a .938 save percentage and a 1.86 goals-against average.

As he closes in on the so-called goaltending triple crown, Price is earning serious consideration for the Hart Memorial Trophy, given annually to the NHL's most valuable player.

The award has only gone to a goaltender seven times, most recently to the Canadiens' own Jose Theodore in 2001-02. Dominik Hasek won the award in back-to-back seasons (1996-97 and 1997-98) while playing for the Buffalo Sabres, making him the only goaltender with multiple Hart Memorial Trophies.

Despite some chatter that Price may be having the best season in goaltending history, Washington Capitals forward Alex Ovechkin is arguably still the favorite to be named MVP.

Ovechkin has a league-leading 47 goals, putting him seven ahead of second-place Steven Stamkos of the Tampa Bay Lightning.