Montreal Canadiens
Canadiens’ Gallagher Out For Series With Broken Jaw
The Montreal Canadiens’ Brendan Gallagher broke his jaw during the Game 5 win over the Philadelphia Flyers. There’s no news about his return.
The good news for the Montreal Canadiens is that they beat the Philadelphia Flyers to stave off elimination from round one of the Stanley Cup playoff series. The bad news is that the team will have to move forward in that series without the services of Brendan Gallagher.
Gallagher has a broken jaw that will require surgery, the team revealed on Thursday.
Related: Gallagher’s Last Chance To Show Canadiens He’s A Go-To Guy?
Renaud Lavoie of TVA Sports was the first to report the severity of the injury Wednesday night and on Thursday it was reported that Gallagher would get a CT scan.
Things weren’t looking good when it was learned Gallagher couldn’t speak to the media about his standout performance after the Canadiens’ series-saving win.
Specifics About the Injury
Gallagher was hit across the mouth (on the video it looks as if by a crosscheck) by Matt Niskanen’s stick during a puck battle along the boards. It was an ugly check and while Gallagher was a trooper and get up on his own, even arguing the play, it looked pretty serious.
It was also revealed on Thursday that Philadelphia’s Matt Niskanen will have a hearing and there could be a fine or suspension involved in the play.
Game News
As far as the game went, young rising star Nick Suzuki scored the winner just 22 seconds after the Flyers had tied the game in the third period. Gallagher also scored on a power play after Philadelphia’s Philippe Myers got a double-minor for high-sticking. That goal snapped a goal-scoring drought by Gallagher, who finally scored on his NHL-leading 37th postseason shot. Gallagher’s drought had lasted nine postseason games, dating back to 2017.
The 21-year-old-rookie Suzuki, who had assisted on Gallagher’s goal, admitted that the Edmonton native has ‘been getting down on himself for not scoring. It’s nice to get that monkey off his back.”
Joel Armia also scored two goals for the Canadiens, and Phillip Danault scored into an empty net to seal the victory. As always, Carey Price was part of the action and made 26 saves.
Associate Coach Kirk Muller’s Comments About His Team
Canadiens associate coach Kirk Muller noted that the game was a “character win” for the team. He believed the team played with intensity from the first shift of the game and singled out Gallagher again, noting, ”It started right from the first shift tonight with Phil’s line and the intensity that Gally brought.”
Obviously Gallagher didn’t talk to the media after the game because of the injury, but at the time it “only” looked as if he had lost a tooth following defenseman Niskanen’s crosscheck to the face in the third, By the way, there was no penalty call on the play.
Will the Canadiens miss Gallagher if he’s out? Obviously, as Carey Price noted, Gallagher has ”one of the biggest hearts of any guy I’ve ever played with. We know what we get from him … he came up with a big one for us.” Muller said of his performance:
“That’s the Gally we love. And that’s what he can bring to a team. He brought guys into the fight. He’s a competitor, he’s a proud player. He plays hard, he works for every goal he gets and I thought he had an exceptional game tonight.”
Related: What If the Montreal Canadiens Still Had Ilya Kovalchuk?
What’s Next for the Canadiens?
Coach Muller noted that ”This group is made up of some great character guys, great leaders” who want to “keep playing.” They will get another chance on Friday.
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