Raleigh, N.C. — After being beaten several times in succession during a shootout drill, Price took out his frustration on the goalposts, delivering three or four whacks before his stick broke. He then grabbed a new stick and, over the next five minutes, he surrendered only one goal.

There were only seven players on the ice and this might have been a day for Price to relax if he hadn’t been coming off his two worst performances of the season. There was a 7-6 overtime loss to the Pittsburgh Penguins Saturday and a 6-3 defeat on Long Island Tuesday. The final Islanders’ goal went into an empty net, which means Price has surrendered 12 goals in two games.

“It’s definitely not the sharpest of starts but we can’t dwell on it,” Price said. “I have to get more competitive. The bounces aren’t going my way and there are a few goals that have gone through me and I don’t like that. But I’m here today to work on a few things.”

Price is expecting to put those things to the test Thursday night when the Canadiens face the Carolina Hurricanes at the PNC Center (7 p.m., TSN-Habs, RDS, TSN-690 Radio).

“I hope that I’m playing, but I haven’t talked to (coach Michel Therrien) and I’m not sure what the plan is,” Price said.

Therrien wasn’t available to discuss his choice of goaltender or other possible lineup changes. He took the option of not attending the practice and cancelled a mid-afternoon media scrum because he wasn’t feeling well. The club was unable to confirm that he is day-to-day with flu-like symptoms

Price dismissed a suggestion that his recent problems were more mental than physical but he did say: “You can’t let one or two goals get you down.”

Price also said that he wasn’t upset that backup goaltender Peter Budaj was given the start Sunday in Boston and that he wasn’t given an immediate opportunity to bounce back from the fiasco against the Penguins.

“We had back-to-back games. We have a strong goaltender in (Budaj),” Price said. “The coach has confidence in both of us and we came out with the win.

“The Pittsburgh game didn’t go the way I wanted it to and I wanted to come back with a strong game (on Long Island). It didn’t go my way again but that’s the way it goes sometimes. Today was a day to refocus and get ready for the next game. Obviously, when you give up as many goals as we did in such a short period of time, there are some details to work out.”

Price said his current slump has been easier to bear because he has the support of his teammates and the Canadiens have managed to maintain their tenuous hold on first place in both the Eastern Conference and the Northeast Division.

Budaj, Price, defenceman Tomas Kaberle and rookie forward Alex Galchenyuk were the only regulars to take advantage of the ice time Wednesday. The other participants in the workout were Petteri Nokelainen, Gabriel Dumont and defenceman Yannick Weber.

After Thursday’s game, the Canadiens move on to Florida for back-to-back games against the Tampa Bay Lightning Saturday and the Florida Panthers Sunday.

phickey@montrealgazette.com

Twitter: @zababes1