Practice - January 26
by Staff Writer / Montréal Canadiens- The Canadiens returned to work from the All-Star break on Monday, practicing at the Bell Sports Complex in Brossard for the first time since preparing for the Predators last Tuesday.
- Pierre-Alexandre Parenteau was not at practice on Monday. The 31-year-old forward is currently sidelined with a concussion. The veteran winger suffered the initial injury back on January 2 in New Jersey, but returned to the lineup on January 14-15 in Columbus and Ottawa. Most recently, however, he has missed a pair of games against the Islanders and Preds.
- Goaltender Carey Price and forward Jiri Sekac were also absent from practice. The Habs’ two representatives at the NHL’s All-Star Weekend in Columbus were en route to Montreal on Monday afternoon after their scheduled morning flight was delayed due to the weather situation in the Northeastern U.S.
- Current McGill Redmen goaltender Jacob Gervais-Chouinard took part in the Canadiens practice for a second time this season in place of Price, having previously donned the Habs jersey in Brossard just over a month ago on December 19.
- Although Price missed the week’s first practice in Brossard, head coach Michel Therrien confirmed that the 27-year-old netminder should nevertheless be back in goal on Tuesday against the visiting Dallas Stars.
- A significant portion of practice was dedicated to special teams on Monday. Max Pacioretty, Tomas Plekanec, Brendan Gallagher, P.K. Subban and Andrei Markov were on the first wave, while Lars Eller, David Desharnais, Alex Galchenyuk, Sergei Gonchar, and Nathan Beaulieu were on the second wave of the unit which has gone 7-for-18 over the last four games.
- The Sherbrooke Phoenix announced via Twitter on Monday that Habs prospect Daniel Audette is currently sidelined with pneumonia and will miss Wednesday’s game in the QMJHL. The 18-year-old center is also questionable heading into the weekend.
Forward lines and defensive pairings at practice:
Pacioretty-Plekanec-Weise
Galchenyuk-Desharnais-Gallagher
Thomas-Eller-Prust
Bournival-Malhotra-Weaver
Subban-Markov
Beaulieu-Gonchar
Emelin-Gilbert