On the Montreal Canadiens …
Montreal Canadiens: Forward Brendan Gallagher underwent surgery Thursday night on his fractured left hand. He is expected to be out a minimum of eight weeks.
Matt Smith: Both Andrei Markov and Alex Galchenyuk were on the ice yesterday and had on no-contact jersey’s.
Montreal Canadiens: Coach Michel Therrien on both Galchenyuk and Markov: “They’re close. They’re really close.”
Eric Engels: The Canadiens are hoping that Paul Byron‘s injury isn’t long-term.
On the Boston Bruins …
Boston Bruins: Coach Claude Julien on David Backes possibly returning today: “I think it’s looking good, but I haven’t had any confirmation yet.”
On the New York Rangers …
Justin Tasch of the NY Daily News: The Rangers have sent rookie Pavel Buchnevich to AHL to play some games. He’s been out since November 12th with back and core issues.
“We’ll take it day by day, game by game and see how he does, see how he feels and go from there,” Alain Vigneault said.
Rick Nash is close to return to the lineup from his groin injury. He won’t play on Saturday, but is hopeful for their next game after that on Friday.
“The doctor wants me to wait until there’s no pain,” Nash said. “I still feel it a bit out there, so we figured five days off will help.”
On the Tampa Bay Lightning …
Joe Smith: Forward Brian Boyle is eligible to come off the IR on Sunday, but likely won’t play according to GM Steve Yzerman. Defenseman Braydon Coburn is day-to-day.
On the Pittsburgh Penguins …
Jason Mackey: Coach Mike Sullivan said that Matt Murray has skated on his own the past two days. Both Carl Hagelin and Marc-Andre Fleury were sick yesterday.
On the New Jersey Devils …
Andrew Gross: Coach John Hynes said again yesterday that defenseman Andy Greene‘s injury doesn’t have to do with his eye/face.
On the Florida Panthers …
Harvey Fialkov: Goaltender Roberto Luongo was a last minute scratch due to an upper-body nick. He was backing up, but later left back to the dressing room.
Harvey Fialkov: Nick Bjugstad also left last night’s game early.
Bjugstad injury pic.twitter.com/uxvYBhxVe5
— GIF Grand Maester (@myregularface) January 7, 2017
