Things were looking good for Rangers forward Derick Brassard, and yet his upper-body injury made him unable to play in Thursday night’s 3-2 overtime loss to the Canadiens in Game 3 of the Eastern Conference finals.
Hours before the Rangers saw their advantage in the best-of-seven cut to 2-1, coach Alain Vigneault said Brassard, “is still day-to-day,” but then when he switched over to French, he gave a little more information.
“I would say, right now, I think no,” he said, as translated by NHL.com.
Brassard was hurt on his second shift of Game 1 of this series when he took a hard open-ice hit from Montreal defenseman Mike Weaver. Brassard missed Game 2, and though he skated both at Wednesday’s practice and at Thursday’s morning skate, he was still unavailable.
“He’s been a big part of our offensive success,” Vigneault said in English, as Brassard has four goals and three assists in 15 postseason games. “So we’re a better team when he’s in our lineup.”
There is a possibility that forward Dan Carcillo will be suspended for Game 4 of this series, if not longer, as a result of his game misconduct penalty taken early in the first period. The referees were supposed to convene after the game and confer with league VP Colin Campbell to review the matter.
If his misconduct did come by way of Rule 40, Physical Abuse of Officials, then the suspensions come in three categories and range from three to 20 games.
Considering Brassard’s health, the most likely candidate to replace him would be mercurial 21-year-old J.T. Miller.
In replace of Brassard, Dominic Moore spent that second straight game as the center between Benoit Pouliot and Mats Zuccarello. After a terrific Game 1 and a more pedestrian Game 2, Moore got 14:11 of ice in Game 3, and finished a minus-2 with two shots on net.
Pouliot missed practice on Wednesday, yet played seemingly unimpeded, getting 16:41 with two shots on goal in six attempts.
Prolific scorer Thomas Vanek had struggled mightily for the Canadiens, and was demoted to the fourth line, getting just 11:07 of time. The former Islanders’ sniper did manage an assist when he whiffed on an open net late in the third period and the puck went off the backboards and to Daniel Breire for a goal that gave the Canadiens a 2-1 lead.