Carey Price has put his injury-plagued 2015-16 season behind him--and it's the only thing that seems to be behind him nowadays. 

Through 10 games this season, Price leads the NHL with 10 wins, a 1.40 GAA and .957 SV%. For the non-mathematicians out there, that means only 14 pucks have gotten past the net-minder on 323 shots this season.

It's been said time and again--and possibly proven more often than that--that Price is the heart and soul of the Montreal Canadiens. Price's 2014-15 season was a career year in which he won 44 games and posted a 1.96 GAA and .933 SV% to go along with nine shutouts. 

Price's season was so strong he even continued winning in the summer. He was awarded the Vezina Trophy and became the first goaltender to win the Hart Memorial Trophy since Jose Theodore in 2002, who coincidentally also played for Montreal.

In 12 games last season, Price continued to build on his Vezina-winning season, going 10-2-0 in his first 12 games before an MCL strain sidelined him for the remaining 70 games of the season. Without Price, the Canadiens failed to make the playoffs.

Montreal's Return to Glory

With Price back in the lineup, the team is back to its winning ways. The Canadiens' 13-2-1 record is good enough to lead the NHL with 27 points and Price is once again on pace for a career year. He extended his perfect record with a 5-0, 25-save shutout over the Detroit Red Wings on Saturday to put him 10-0-0 on the season.

Montreal fans were beyond thrilled when Price played every game for Canada in the World Cup and backstopped the country to another international championship.

Rumors of Price aggravating his injury swirled when he missed the first three games of the season with the flu. Fans feared the worst, and talk of reinjuring himself during the World Cup gained steam.

But new backup Al Montoya calmed fans down in Price's absence, going 2-0-1 with a 1.33 GAA, .961 SV% and a shutout.

Over his next three starts, scattered across the next 13 games, Montoya has returned to more applicable back-up numbers with a 3.14 GAA and .909 SV% on the season.

These numbers were of course pulled downward after Montoya played through a 10-0 loss to the Columbus Blue Jackets on November 4.

Head coach Michel Therrien's allowance of Montoya to stay in net for 10 goals brings to light a harsh reality for the Canadiens: They're not ready to give Price any sort of back-to-back action. After the blowout loss, the media questioned Therrien's choice to not put Price into the game.

He said the team's plan was to play Price the following day against Philadelphia. But plans change, especially in professional sports.

The Canadiens may have a lack of confidence in Price's knee, and won't take any risks ensuring he stays healthy for the full season. It also helps that Montreal is scoring at its fastest pace--3.31 GF/PG--since the 2012-13 lockout-shortened season, when they averaged 3.04 GF/PG.

Averaging over three goals per game allows Price to have a chance at winning even when he has an occasional off-game, such as the aforementioned Philadelphia showdown, when his team's five goals helped make up for the four shots Price let get behind him.