|
Florida Panthers center Marcel Goc (R) and Montreal Canadiens left wing Max Pacioretty (L) look for puck during first period NHL action in Montreal on Monday October 24, 2011. (Pierre Obendrauf / THE GAZETTE)Montreal Gazette MONTREAL - The Canadiens received some good news about Max Pacioretty(notes) s injured right wrist Tuesday.Or did they?While head coach Jacques Martin said the team would p games football rovide an update on Pacioretty s condition on Wednesday, word leaked out that Pacioretty suffered ligament damage but will not require surgery.This was generally regarded as good news, but the reality is that damaged ligaments can often pose more problems than a broken bone. Healing times for a broken bone are predictable, but there are more variables to ligament damage.The one certainty is that P games football acioretty will not be in the lineup Wednesday night when the Philadelphia Flyers visit the Bell Centre (7:30 p.m., TSN, RDS, TSN Radio 990). And he won t have a reunion with Zdeno Chara(notes) and the Boston Bruins who will face the Canadiens Thursday in Beantown and Saturday in Montreal.But, as Martin noted Tuesday, the schedule provides a break for the Canadiens after the Bruins games. The Cana games football diens don t play again until the following Friday when they travel to Ottawa and that will provide additional recovery time not only for Pacioretty but for Scott Gomez(notes), who is out with an upper-body injury. Gomez skated with strength coach Pierre Allard prior to the Canadiens practice in Brossard Tuesday and Martin said he could be back next weekend. While Gomez has become the poster b games football oy for underachievement since arriving in Montreal, you could make a case that the team is better when he s in the lineup. He has missed nine games since he was acquired from the New York Rangers in 2009 and the Canadiens have won only one of those games.The Canadiens 1-5-2 start to the season has raised questions about Martin s immediate future. The folks at Bodog have issued odds on whether he games football ll be fired, but the coach seemed oblivious to the controversy. I don #39;t listen to the radio or watch TV or read the newspapers,- Martin said. -After 26, 27 years at this level, I #39;ve been through this before. To me it #39;s just (about) every day getting better and making sure the team #39;s ready for (the next) game.-A six-game losing streak and an 0-5 record at home have tested team moral games football e, but Carey Price(notes), who will return to goal Wednesday after taking a rare night off, said the emphasis was on climbing back to .500 in the standings. We re only four games below .500 and the goal is to get back there and build on it, Price said.One of the concerns this season has been teams taking runs at the Montreal netminder and that could be a factor in the upcoming games against the F games football lyers and the Bruins, two teams that seem to delight in bullying the Canadiens. But Price shot down a suggestion that Montreal needs a heavyweight to help protect him. I m a big boy and I can take care of myself, Price said. It seems that teams are telling their forwards to go hard at me but, in those situations, you have to rely on the refs to protect you. And we have guys going hard to the net games football . If you look at (Travis) Moen, that s the way he s been scoring his goals this season. Martin never needs an excuse to juggle lines, but changes were in order after the injury to Pacioretty.Moen will line up with Tomas Plekanec(notes) and Brian Gionta(notes), while Michael Cammalleri(notes) moves to a line with David Desharnais(notes) and Erik Cole(notes). Mathieu Darche(notes) joins Lars Eller(n games football otes) and Andrei Kostitsyn(notes). In one significant change on special teams, Cole was getting lots of action on the power play and Darche wasn t.Defenceman Alexei Emelin(notes) practiced with newcomers Petteri Nokelainen(notes) and Mike Blunden(notes) on the fourth line, but the Canadiens recalled Aaron Palushaj(notes) late Tuesday and he ll take Emelin s spot. The Palushaj announcement came aft games football er 5 p.m. so they could save some money on their cap space.The Flyers revamped their lineup during the offseason, shedding Jeff Carter(notes) and Mike Richard and adding the likes of Jaromir Jagr(notes), pesky Max Talbot(notes) and rookie-of-the-year candidate Sean Couturier(notes). They arrive with a 5-2-1 record but without captain Chris Pronger(notes), who was struck in the eye by Mikhail Grabo games football vski(notes) s stick Monday.phickey@montrealgazette.com Play Fantasy Hockey, now with Pro Leagues! Updated 9 hours, 18 minutes ago games football
|