![]() ![]() ![]() It was his draft year and I couldn’t get over how big he was. “I couldn’t believe how big he was,” said Montgomery. At the time, Ovechkin was being billed as the next Pavel Bure. Montgomery got an early scouting report during his one year playing in Russia when his club, Ufa Salavat Yulayev, played against Ovechkin’s Moscow Dynamo team in 2003-04. Ovechkin comes into the game 82 goals shy of Wayne Gretzky’s record of 894. 19, tried skating recently but it did not go well, so they’re pulling back on his return a bit. Montgomery also said Tomas Nosek, who suffered a broken foot on a blocked shot on Jan. And that’s four minutes after he scored the winning goal. I watched ‘Behind the B’ the other day and he couldn’t walk up the stairs. “It’s pretty remarkable the toughness that he showed to come through in a big moment like that. “Substantial amount of pain, both injuries, the thumb and the leg,” said Montgomery. Montgomery again marveled at the toughness DeBrusk showed in the Winter Classic to play through a a thumb injury and broken fibula to score both goals in the 2-1 win over the Penguins. But we do think it should be by Nashville because I think that gets us to six weeks. And if he’s not ready for Nashville, we won’t go then, either. “We’re hoping for Tuesday (in Dallas) but we’re not going to take any chances. “We haven’t seen the imaging yet that will say we’re comfortable with putting him back in,” said Montgomery. He will not be available for Saturday’s against the Caps. He was scoring power-play goals and all that, but that ability to have those two players on your third line really makes you dangerous.” DeBrusk getting closerĭeBrusk, who had a flight canceled that prevented him from making it back in time for Thursday’s practice, was in attendance on Friday, skating in a red non-contact jersey. When you look at when Taylor Hall was producing, our team was really dominant and it was 5-on-5 play. “On the third line, when you have Coyle and Hall on your third line, that’s a huge advantage. The last game in Toronto we switched to that … and they just seemed to give us an edge,” said Montgomery. ![]() His pairing with Coyle down in the lineup should help not just Hall but the overall product. ![]() And we’re in a much better place as a team. When you know an eight-day break is coming, it seems like mentally you get more tired before the break. Everyone’s re-energized and I think everyone’s excited to play again. Taylor and I have had some healthy conversations. So it can become too much and they start thinking about results too much. “He’s getting looks and I think it’s normal when an offensive player who’s relied on for production like he is with us, they know that they’re here to produce. But oddly enough, our scoring chances, he’s third most 5-on-5 in the last 10-game segment,” said Montgomery on Friday. “I think with Taylor, the production hasn’t been there. The internal numbers also tell Montgomery that Hall has not been as bad as those numbers might suggest. Coach Jim Montgomery feels like the break should help him, from a mental standpoint as much as a physical one. 19 home win over Florida, Hall has just two goals and three assists in the last 20 games. He also saw some time with Krejci and Pavel Zacha and, on Saturday, expect to see him on left wing with Charlie Coyle and Nick Foligno. With Jake DeBrusk out, he’s bounced around the lineup, including getting a look on his off wing with Bergeron and Marchand. The B’s could also use some more production from Taylor Hall. In practice on Friday, they went with a top unit of Charlie McAvoy, Patrice Bergeron, David Krejci and Brad Marchand working the net front. At the top of the fix-it list is the power play, which went 0-for-13 in the last four games before the break and was one of the biggest culprits in the team’s three-game losing streak. And though the B’s sit atop the NHL at 39-7-5, they can be better than they were in the last couple of weeks. ![]()
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