Julien: Price is 100 percent healthy, ready to play after Monday

The Montreal Canadiens are ready to welcome goaltender Carey Price back to the lineup.

After the club sent netminder Charlie Lindgren back to AHL affiliate Laval, head coach Claude Julien said Price is 100 percent healthy and ready to play, though he won't start versus the Florida Panthers on Monday.

Price has been out of action since suffering a concussion Feb. 20 and Julien was asked why his most important player, who has also dealt with knee injuries, is playing down the stretch of a lost season.

"The people who worry don't know all the details, they don't know everything and they will never know everything," Julien said, per John Lu of TSN. "But at the same time, if we worry about the perception on the outside, does that mean we're gonna make the right decisions on the inside?

"So we can't get caught up in that stuff. No matter what: We play him, we're gonna get criticized for playing him; we keep him out, we're gonna get criticized. We understand that; we know that happens."

In 43 appearances this season, Price owns a .904 save percentage and 2.98 goals against average.