Canadiens forward Alex Galchenyuk played his best hockey of the season with a broken finger. Galchenyuk said he was skipping an appearance with Team USA at the coming world championships to allow the finger to heal. But the dented digit didn’t seem to bother him as he scored 11 goals and added seven assists over 17 games to finish as the team’s second-leading scorer.
Condon off to Russia: Six players, including goaltender Mike Condon, will participate in the world championship tournament in Moscow and St. Petersburg. Condon said it’s his first opportunity to represent the U.S. at any level. Brendan Gallagher (Canada), Alexei Emelin (Russia), Lars Eller (Denmark), Sven Andrighetto (Switzerland) and Tomas Plekanec (Czech Republic) are the other players headed to Russia. P.K. Subban’s sore neck will prevent him from joining Team Canada, while Andrei Markov declined an invitation for “personal reasons.” Max Pacioretty decided he needed a physical and mental break although he was tempted because his wife is from Russia.
Petry injured vs. Bruins: Defenceman Jeff Petry said his sports hernia injury was not the result of the hit Jamie Benn delivered in Dallas on Dec. 18. “That was a different upper-body injury,” said Petry, who missed two games after the hit. The hernia problems began during a Dec. 9 game against Boston, but he continued playing until he shut things down following a Feb. 7 game against Carolina. David Mulder operated on Petry five weeks ago and the defenceman will continue his rehab in Montreal. “It’s 8-12 weeks and I’ll treat it as if it’s the regular season and start skating as soon as I’m cleared,” said Petry.
