Carey Price won't play for Canadiens before all-star break
Injured goalie has been out since late November
The Montreal Canadiens' net will be manned by Mike Condon and Ben Scrivens until at least Feb. 1.
Canadiens head coach Michel Therrien told reporters on Friday that starting goaltender Carey Price wouldn't return to game action before the all-star break. All-star weekend is Jan. 30-31 in Nashville.
Price, who has played in only 12 of Montreal's 42 games this season, is hampered by a lower-body injury that he initially hurt Oct. 29 in Edmonton and aggravated in a Nov. 25 contest against the Rangers in New York.
"We said it would be a minimum of six weeks, so it was a long-term injury," Therrien said, as the Habs prepare for Pittsburgh's visit on Saturday night. "When you're dealing with a long-term injury it's always tough to say that he's going to be back on this specific day.
"We need to follow the rehabilitation process and I'm told it's going well."
Montreal's record after beating the Rangers on Nov. 25 was 17-4-2, and it was running away with the Atlantic Division. Since then, the Canadiens are 6-12-1 and have been surpassed by Florida for first place.
Price won the Hart Trophy last season as the NHL's MVP and also claimed the Vezina Trophy as the league's top goalie after setting career bests in wins (44), shutouts (nine), goals-against average (1.96) and save percentage (.933).
This season Price, 28, has a 10-2-0 record with two shutouts, a 2.06 GAA and .934 save percentage.
Last month a panel of sports journalists named him the winner of the Lou Marsh Award as Canada's athlete of the year.
With files from The Canadian Press