Montreal Canadiens' Brandon Prust suspended two games for hit that broke ...
NEW YORK - For delivering a late hit that allegedly broke the jaw of an opponent, Montreal Canadiens forward Brandon Prust has been suspended for two games, meaning there is a chance he has appeared in his final game of the season.
The Canadiens trail the New York Rangers 2-1 in their Eastern Conference final series, with Game 4 set for Sunday at Madison Square Garden. Prust will miss that game, and he will also miss Game 5, back in Montreal on Tuesday.
He was punished for his hit on Rangers forward Derek Stepan in the first period of Game 3, on Thursday. Stepan had already played the puck when Prust steamed in, driving his shoulder into Stepan's chest - and into his head.
No penalty was called on the play.
On Friday morning, the Rangers announced Stepan had suffered a broken jaw, and was undergoing surgery. The 23-year-old will be out indefinitely. (Remarkably, he returned to play shortly after leaving the ice following the hit, and logged more than 17 minutes of ice time.)
'Prust wants to set the tone to that game, goes, hits the guy,' Canadiens forward David Desharnais said. 'I thought it was a good hit.'
'There have been losses on both sides, and that's just how hockey goes sometimes,' said Canadiens forward Lars Eller. 'It's the playoffs. It's intense, and things like that they're going to happen once in a while. But it always sucks to see people getting injured. Nobody wants that.'
The Canadiens lost goaltender Carey Price in the series opener, after he was bowled over by hard-charging Rangers winger Chris Kreider. Price was seen walking through the lobby of the team's midtown Manhattan hotel on Friday, moving with a slight limp and a brace on his right knee.
'You know what? If there is a team that can understand the loss of a player, it's us,' said Canadiens coach Michael Therrien. 'We lost Carey Price in the first game of the series with the hit on Kreider ... we're still frustrated not having our goalie, our number one most important player.'
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