Remember earlier when we talked about the war of words between the Montreal Canadiens and New York Rangers was growing louder? Apparently we spoke too soon.
Following practice at Madison Square Garden on Saturday afternoon, Habs forward Daniel Briere aired some grievances with the Rangers on a few of the hot-button topics of the series.
On the broken jaw injury to Rangers forward Derek Stepan that occurred when he was crushed by a late hit from Habs forward Brandon Prust, Briere said:
Briere on Stepan injury: "It seems a little fishy to me. It seems like a game."
— James Mirtle (@mirtle) May 24, 2014
Rangers coach Alain Vigneault said earlier today he doubted Stepan would play in Sunday’s Game 4 because he was still in the hospital recovering from surgery to put a plate in his jaw.
Brendan Gallagher added his own two cents on Stepan saying:
Gallagher wouldn't be surprised if Stepan played: "He got up and was yapping and yelling, so I don't think the jaw was hurting too much."
— Arpon Basu (@ArponBasu) May 24, 2014
On playing against defenseman Ryan McDonagh he delivered a bit of a backhanded compliment.
Brière: "Ryan McDonagh is a great defenseman but I've never seen a guy slash this much since Chris Pronger."
— Marc Antoine Godin (@MAGodin) May 24, 2014
Maybe a couple days off between games for these teams was enough to really get the hype machine going for Game 4 on Sunday night.