BROSSARD, Que. — Montreal Canadiens coach Claude Julien said on Thursday that forward Andrew Shaw is “feeling much better” after being knocked unconscious in a collision with Dallas Stars defenceman Greg Pateryn on Tuesday.
Shaw, who has 10 goals and 10 assists this season, went in for a hit on Pateryn in the third period of his team’s 4-2 win over the Stars and ended up bumping heads with him and knocking himself out. Pateryn then punched Shaw twice while he was unconscious.
“He was knocked out as soon as he hit me,” said Pateryn after Tuesday’s game. “He knocked himself out when he hit me. I didn’t realize he was knocked out until he was on the ice and his eyes were in the back of his head.
“You play like that, that’s what happens sometimes.”
Shaw, who suffered two concussions last season, was helped off the ice and to the Canadiens room by team officials and did not return before game’s end.
“He’s at home feeling much better yesterday and today,” said Julien Thursday. “That is good news — the feeling better part, and we didn’t anticipate it so he’s still obviously being evaluated on a daily basis.
When asked if Shaw was officially diagnosed with a concussion Julien said, “Not yet.”
“There’s symptoms when a guy’s knocked out, but you know he’s feeling much better so it’s hard to detect,” Julien continued. “At the end of the day, they’re going to treat it like (he has a concussion) and make sure that he goes through all the protocol and that he’s well before we even see him back on the ice.”
The Canadiens called up forward Mike McCarron from the AHL’s Laval Rocket Wednesday to fill Shaw’s spot on their roster, but neither he nor Shaw will be available to face the Pittsburgh Penguins at the Bell Centre Thursday night.
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