Canadiens’ Danault avoids serious injury after taking puck to face

Montreal Canadiens centre Phillip Danault (24) is helped off the ice by teammates Tomas Tatar (90) and Nick Cousins (21) after taking a puck to the face. (Ryan Remiorz/CP)

Montreal Canadiens forward Phillip Danault will travel with the team and could play against the Boston Bruins Wednesday night, less than 48 hours after taking a puck to the face.

Danault was struck by a shot from teammate Tomas Tatar early in the second period of a home game against the Arizona Coyotes and had to leave the game.

Canadiens head coach Claude Julien added that Danault will likely wear a full face mask.

This isn’t the first time Danault has been injured by a puck to the face. In 2018, he missed over a month after taking a slap shot from Zdeno Chara to the head. In that instance, he was diagnosed with a concussion.

Danault is a reliable centre who plays in all situations for the Canadiens. The 26-year-old has 12 goals and 40 points in 58 games, and is second on the team with a 54-per-cent success rate on faceoffs.

In other Canadiens news, Julien said winger Paul Byron will travel with the team too. Byron has been out of the lineup since mid-November with a knee injury.

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