Habs veteran ruled out for biggest game of the season

Montreal Canadiens head coach Claude Julien announced this morning that veteran centerman Andrew Shaw has been ruled out of tonight’s elimination contest against the New York Rangers.

Shaw has been taking a pounding from the Rangers’ defense corps through the series’ first five games and it looks as if the bumps and bruises have finally caught up with him. Officially the Habs are calling the ailment an ‘upper body injury’ and haven’t given any indication for his return to the lineup.

Shaw has been held pointless so far in the playoffs, but the 25 year-old native of Belleville, Ontario has been a good pickup for the Habs scoring 12 goals and 29 points in 68 games this season. It remains to be seen how the his absence affects the Rangers gameplan, but with the potential to move on to the second round for the first time since their 2014-15 Stanley Cup final appearance, the Rangers will be raring to go either way.