Max Pacioretty Injury: Canadiens update injured forward's status

Michel Therrien met with the media today, and announced that Max Pacioretty will not be lacing up for the Montreal Canadiens against the Detroit Red Wings or the Toronto Maple Leafs, and would be re-evaluated before the playoffs begin.

Therrien also let it be known that Pacioretty has seen doctors, and the Canadiens know exactly what ails the superstar forward, but will not be giving the media any more information other than him having an upper body injury. This makes sense going into the playoffs, where injured players are often targeted, but also creates a situation where everyone is assuming and speculating.

Based on the collision that caused the injury, the most likely scenario is that Pacioretty suffered a concussion, but the severity is unknown. It would be at the least Pacioretty's second concussion, the first coming from being run into the stanchion by Zdeno Chara in 2011.

The official concussion protocol requires a player to be held out for at least seven days following a concussion, and the time between the game Pacioretty was injured and the beginning of the playoffs would be at least nine days. Whether that's enough time for Pacioretty to be symptom free, we'll have to wait and see.

In the meantime, the Canadiens will need to learn to survive without their leading scorer, and as it stands, the lines don't look great.