A special day for Pacioretty
There was a special moment during the Canadiens’ morning skate Saturday in Brossard — something any father can relate to.
Among the fans watching the Canadiens go through their drills — including teenage girls gushing while taking photos of their favourite players, other young fans wearing Habs jerseys and the older gentlemen who are regulars, sipping coffee and dissecting what was happening below — were Max Pacioretty’s wife, Katia, and their son Enzo, who turns three on Dec. 23.
“They’re not in daycare on the weekend,” Pacioretty said about Enzo and his one-year-old brother, Maximus, after scoring four goals in the Canadiens’ 10-1 blowout of the Colorado Avalanche on Saturday night at the Bell Centre. “So (Enzo) was hounding us to come to practice today and he must have eaten all his breakfast after I left, so they brought him.
“Actually, I waved to him and it was the first time I’ve been able to pick him out of the crowd and wave to him and he’s been talking about it all day,” Pacioretty added. “So it’s something that’s really special for me. That was cool.”
What was also special and cool was when Michel Lacroix, the Canadiens’ PA announcer, entered the locker room while Pacioretty was in the middle of his post-game media scrum and presented the captain with four game pucks with white tape around them marking the period and time of each goal.
One of the Canadiens’ official photographers was waiting for the media to leave so a photo could be taken of Pacioretty with the four pucks — bringing back memories of those classic black-and-white photos of Jean Béliveau and Rocket Richard posing with their pucks after similar performances.
“Get out of the picture,” Pacioretty said with a big smile to the media members who were still around. “I don’t want you guys in it.”
Pacioretty was asked what he’s going to do with the pucks.
“My son will probably play with them tomorrow morning when he gets up,” he said.
That will put a smile on any father’s face.
This marked the first time Pacioretty has scored four goals in an NHL game. When asked if he had ever scored that many in a game at any level, he said: “I can’t remember any game too seriously. I think when I was a kid my dad promised me a new stick if I got a hat trick and I got seven, but then I didn’t get the stick. That’s the one time I remember.
“I said I’m going to start passing,” Pacioretty added with a smile.
Pacioretty now has seven goals in the last four games after playing with a hairline fracture in his foot during November, when he scored only three times in 14 games. He also picked up an assist Saturday to move one point ahead of the injured Alex Galchenyuk for the team lead in scoring with 12-12-24 totals and is now on pace for 35 goals.
Pacioretty didn’t want to talk about the injury.
“I’m not going to use anything as an excuse,” he said. “I didn’t come out with that … that got leaked. It’s not my style or what I wanted. Guys have played on this team through much worse, even this year.”
But a fractured foot is a pretty good excuse. Pacioretty’s healthy now and the four-goal night will be a boost for his confidence. On his first goal, Pacioretty seemed to hesitate before shooting the puck on a two-on-one with Alexander Radulov.
“I was looking to pass to Radu and a couple of times the past couple of games I’ve been looking to make that pass, but there’s times to pass and times to shoot and I think I picked the right decision there,” Pacioretty said. “But there’s going to be times where I want to slide that over to Radu. He’s returned the favour for me more than enough since we’ve played together.”
Radulov had a goal and an assist Saturday, while Tomas Plekanec — now playing centre on the No. 1 line — had four assists.
The Canadiens had the day off Sunday before facing the Boston Bruins on Monday at the Bell Centre (7:30 p.m., SN, RDS, TSN Radio 690).
That meant Pacioretty could relax Sunday morning and watch little Enzo play with his new pucks.