Montreal will be without 37-goal man Max Pacioretty when they open their playoff series against Ottawa tonight at the Bell Centre.
Pacioretty, dealing with an upper-body injury suffered in Montreal’s third-last game of the season against Florida, was officially ruled out this morning, but could return for Game 2 on Friday night -- that said, Habs head coach Michel Therrien wouldn’t commit to any potential comeback date.
“As I said, we’ll use him when he’s 100 per cent,” Therrien said, per the CP. “It’s not tonight obviously.
“It could be Friday, it could be Sunday. Once we get the okay from our medical team, we’ll be very glad to get him back in the lineup.”
With Pacioretty out, here’s what Montreal’s line rushes looked like this morning:
Alex Galchenyuk-Tomas Plekanec-Brendan Gallagher
Devante Smith-Pelly-David Desharnais-P.A. Parenteau
Jacob de la Rose-Lars Eller-Dale Weise
Brandon Prust-Torrey Mitchell-Brian Flynn