Gomez sidelined with concussion
Sabres’ Myers suspended for three games after his blindside hit against glass
Canadiens centre Scott Gomez is expected to be out of action Wednesday, and perhaps for many games to come, with a concussion following a blindside hit by Buffalo’s Tyler Myers in Monday’s 3-2 Sabres victory.
Gomez was in a corner in the Sabres end of First Niagara Centre 13 minutes into the third period, up against the boards and without the puck, when he was struck from behind by Myers, his head striking the glass and snapping back in a whiplash.
The Sabres defenceman was given a two-minute penalty for boarding. He would score the game-winning goal in overtime.
On Tuesday evening, Myers was handed a three-game suspension by NHL disciplinarian Brendan Shanahan for failing to avoid hitting a vulnerable Gomez or at least minimizing the contact.
Gomez, his unproductive, line-juggled, injury-riddled season a black hole that has just grown even darker, struggled to his feet after the hit and tried unsuccessfully to play one more shift before leaving the game.
The Canadiens veteran will miss Wednesday’s Bell Centre game against the Ottawa Senators (7:30 p.m., TSN, RDS, TSN 990 Radio) and almost surely won’t see action the rest of this week at least, the Canadiens in Ottawa on Friday and back home against the New York Islanders on Saturday.
Gomez visited a doctor on Tuesday, a day off practice for the Canadiens.
The news at least was brighter in the case of forward Max Pacioretty, who literally crawled off Buffalo ice after straying intentionally into the lane and taking a heavy point shot from Myers off his right ankle during his first shift in the second period.
The Habs’ leading scorer needed help from athletic therapists Graham Rynbend and Nick Addey-jibb to get down the corridor to the dressing room.
Pacioretty finished the game, took treatment afterward and again Tuesday and declared himself ready to go against Ottawa.
“It was kind of dumb of me to open up my foot like that,” Pacioretty said Tuesday. “But I put myself in a situation where I was a little bit behind so I had to do it. It was right on the ankle, between the skate and the shinpad. It was my own stupidity that I got hit there.”
Pacioretty thought, as he crawled to the bench on all fours, that he might have suffered a fracture. “That’s what I feared at first,” he said. “But guys like Josh Gorges take shots like that all the time and they’re ready for it.”
Indeed, Gorges had blocked an Nhl-leading 199 shots heading into Tuesday’s games. Pacioretty ranked 356th among all skaters with 28.
“That’s not my job. I don’t block many shots, so it’s hard for me tell when something’s going to be really bad or if it’s going to be all right,” Pacioretty said. “Maybe next time I’ll better know what the diagnosis will be even before I go in the dressing room.”
Pacioretty had his skate removed in the room, ankle firmly taped, “waited for it to calm down,” then took a painkiller and returned for one more second-period shift before finishing the game as usual.
“Guys play with a lot worse every night,” he said. “By the third period it felt really good. The trainers did a great job.”
The visiting Senators, fighting for the lead in the Northeast Division, have lost two of their three games to the Canadiens this season.
Ben Bishop is expected to start in goal for Ottawa (36-259), the newcomer never having faced Montreal (27-32-11).
The Habs are expected to counter with Carey Price, who is 10-5-1 lifetime vs. the Senators with three shutouts, a 2.30 average and .919 save percentage.
dstubbs@ montrealgazette.com
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