MONTREAL — All the focus might have been on the Canadiens losing starting goalie Carey Price, but the Rangers suffered their own injury woe, as center Derick Brassard missed the Rangers 3-1 Game 2 win over the Canadiens on Monday night at the Bell Centre, taking a commanding 2-0 lead in the best-of-seven Eastern Conference final.
Brassard was hurt on a shoulder-to-shoulder, open-ice hit delivered by Montreal defenseman Mike Weaver 3:03 into the Blueshirts’ 7-2 Game 1 victory on Saturday. In the midst of his second shift, Brassard left the game having played just 35 seconds and did not return.
Coach Alain Vigneault continued to call him “day-to-day.”
The 26-year-old pending restricted free agent has been one of the Rangers’ best players throughout the tournament, recording four goals and three assists. He was hit hard by Weaver in the offensive right wing circle from the blind side after sending a pass — that he watched — to Benoit Pouliot.
“You finish all your hits,” said Weaver, who was not penalized. “I’m not a guy that is out to hurt anybody. I was just finishing my check. I didn’t hit high or anything like that. It was shoulder to shoulder.
“I look back at the hit, I thought it was a clean hit. I’m not a dirty hitter.”
Known to have a balky back, Brassard said after the game that he didn’t think he could help the team win if he returned to the game, and that he initially didn’t think the injury was that serious. Brassard very lightly participated in the morning skate, not joining line rushes or power-play drills.
There was an interesting tidbit from Vigneault, who said he had an idea the Canadiens would start 24-year-old rookie goaltender Dustin Tokarski on Monday after Price went down to an apparent right-leg injury in Game 1. The expected replacement was regular backup Peter Budaj, but Montreal coach Michel Therrien went with Tokarski instead.
“Somehow we had an inclination that it was probably going to be him,” Vigneault said. “So that didn’t surprise us.”
Starting in Brassard’s established spot between Pouliot and Mats Zuccarello was Dominic Moore, who was a little more pedestrian than his outstanding two-assist performance in Game 1. Moore’s spot on the fourth-line was filled by Dan Carcillo, bumping Brian Boyle from the wing to center and keeping Derek Dorsett on the right.
Dorsett went hard into the backboards late in the first period and came up limping, but said afterward that he just got a “zing” up his leg, and that the problem was with a wobbly skate. He switched skates and returned, playing 9:36.
The Canadiens got young winger Alex Galchenyuk back in the lineup for his 2014 postseason debut and he played an assertive game on a line with Tomas Plekanec and Thomas Vanek, logging two shots on net in 13:23. The 20-year-old has been out since April 9 with a lower-body injury, and did take a phantom tripping call on Carl Hagelin that resulted in Martin St. Louis’ power-play goal that made it 3-1.
Montreal superstar defenseman P.K. Subban had a game-high nine shots on net, and attempted a ludicrous 18. He also played a game-high 29:40 and was a minus-2.