Prust delivers another gutsy performance
HARD CRASH into the boards fails to stop Habs forward from helping his team
On a night when Thomas Vanek grabbed the spotlight with his first three goals as a Canadien, Brandon Prust turned in another gutsy performance Tuesday en route to a 6-3 win over the Colorado Avalanche.
Prust’s night appeared to be over when he crashed into the boards in the first period and headed directly to the Bell Centre clinic.
“It definitely didn’t feel too good,” Prust said after the game, adding his injury was “upper body until they tell me differently.”
“I was a little scared, I was in a little pain, but we got it fixed up,” he said.
Prust returned to action in the second period and had a goal and an assist, prompting a reporter to ask whether the points combined with a separated shoulder to form some type of hat trick.
“I guess it’s my hat trick, but it’s not a separated shoulder,” he replied. “Don’t be starting rumours.”
Prust has a history of shoulder problems since joining the Canadiens before last season. He has missed time with left and right shoulder injuries as well as for an unidentified upperbody injury that cost him seven games coming out of the Olympic break.
Before joining the Canadiens, Prust had lost time because of a concussion, and while he played all 82 regular-season games with the New York Rangers in the 2011-12 season, he played with a hand injury that required surgery before he joined the Canadiens.
If Prust was concerned about the most recent injury, it didn’t show in his play. He set up Travis Moen Tuesday night by diving to the ice and poking the puck beyond the reach of defenceman Erik Johnson. Moen followed that up with a strong effort of his own as he fought off a check and beat Jean-Sébastien Giguère with a backhanded spin move.
“They were both pretty good plays,” Prust said. “I saw Mo and I thought that the (defenceman) was go- ing to step up on me, so I just whacked it as hard as I could and it worked out.”
The fourth line of Prust, Moen and Dale Weise played a strong defensive game and helped kill off three penalties. As a bonus, each member of the trio scored a goal.
“He played hard,” Moen said when asked about Prust. “He took a little pop there, but he’s a warrior. Any time you get a goal you feel good, and we got three of them tonight. It’s nice to chip in offensively, but the most important thing for our line is to bring some energy.”
Prust gave the Canadiens their first lead at 3-2 with a third-period slapshot to Giguère’s glove side. He responded with an exaggerated salute that tested the mobility in his shoulder.
“I slowed down at the end,” Prust said. “I was a little excited because I haven’t scored for a while.”
Prust said it was a disappointment when Jamie McGinn tied the score midway through the third period, but Montreal rallied on a pair of power-play goals by Vanek and an empty-netter by Weise.
“It was tough to see them tie it up because we were battling hard,” Prust said. “Sometimes when a team ties it up it can take the wind out of your sails, but we kept going. I felt that was a complete game, which we haven’t done for a while.”
Coach Michel Therrien said he was pleased to see the fourth line contribute offensively, but added the key to the win was a strong team effort.
Therrien noted that the David Desharnais line, with Max Pacioretty and Vanek on the wings, got the better of Matt Duchene’s line and that Prust and company killed penalties against Colorado’s top players.
“I trust my players and I’m not afraid to use them against any players,” the coach said.
The win was the Canadiens’ third in a row. They were given the day off Wednesday and will attempt to extend their winning streak when they face the Columbus Blue Jackets Thursday night at the Bell Centre (7:30 p.m., TSN-HABS, RDS, TSN Radio 690). After the Columbus game, the Canadiens go on the road to play Toronto on Saturday and Boston Monday.