In an instant, Brandon Prust went from former Garden favorite to public enemy No. 1.
And he’s OK with that.
Prust’s late hit on Derek Stepan in Montreal’s overtime win on Thursday in Game 3 of the Eastern Conference finals resulted in a broken jaw for Stepan and a two-game suspension for Prust. It also turned the MSG crowd against Prust, who spent parts of three seasons with the Rangers.
“It’s a good thing I’m not too worried,” Prust said Saturday following Montreal’s practice at the in advance of Sunday’s Game 4. “They’re not my fans anymore. I’m in Montreal now. Those are my fans. That’s who I care about. I remember my time here, and I still love the city and appreciate the organization.”
Prust agreed his ban was justified after looking at the replay and learning of Stepan’s injury.
“If there’s no injury, I was thinking no games,” Prust said. “Once I heard that he had a broken jaw, I was thinking one, maybe two games.”
The former Ranger seemed remorseful his ex-teammate, and friend, got hurt, but not so much for the hit itself.
“It was my first shift, my first game back at MSG,” Prust said. “My emotions are going. I want to get out there and create contact, and that’s kind of my main goal… [to] get out, get physical. Unfortunately, my timing was off.”
And he said had been in touch with Stepan.
“I did text [Stepan],” Prust said. “Originally, I wasn’t going to. I didn’t think he was injured, really. Once I found out he had a broken jaw, I reached out to him. I told him I feel awful. I didn’t want to injure anybody, especially a friend of mine. … I hope he recovers well.”
Asked if his text were returned, Prust said, “Yeah, it was short. I think he understood where I’m coming from, and it’s a tough situation right now.”
Particularly for the Rangers, who also will be without the suspended Dan Carcillo for the remainder of the series. They may also be without Stepan, who had to undergo surgery. But Prust made it clear he was not apologizing for his physical play.
“I want to come out and create energy for my team,” Prust said. “We’re coming in, we just lost two games at home and we have to turn the series around. I’m not looking to turn it around by being dirty, I’m looking to turn it around by being physical. By no means was I looking to injure anybody.”
And the rest of the Canadiens are trying to leave it in the past.
“Agree or not, there’s nothing you can do about it,” Montreal head coach Michel Therrien said of the suspension. “You’ve got to respect the decision and you’ve got to move on. That’s the most important thing. We decided to move on.”