For the second straight day, Max Pacioretty (upper body) was able to practice with the Canadiens, but that doesn’t necessarily mean Montreal will have its leading scorer available for its playoff opener on Wednesday against the Ottawa Senators.
“As a coaching staff we have to prepare our team for tomorrow night’s game and the medical staff haven’t told us yet that Max is going to be there for tomorrow,” Canadiens coach Michel Therrien said, per the Montreal Gazette. “So maybe he will, but we’re not quite sure. And as a coaching staff we got to make sure that we prepare our team and we’re going to go from there. I’ll be surprised (if he plays).”
On the plus side, Pacioretty is now cleared for contact.
The 26-year-old forward missed Montreal’s last two regular season contests after he fell awkwardly as a result of a hit by Panthers defenseman Dmitry Kulikov:
