Montreal Canadiens veterans Karl Alzner, Tomas Plekanec won’t play in opener
TORONTO — The Montreal Canadiens will make two long-serving NHLers healthy scratches for Wednesday night’s season opener in Toronto against the Maple Leafs.
Defenceman Karl Alzner and centre Tomas Plekanec will not dress for the game at Scotiabank Arena.
The decision will end Alzner’s consecutive-games streak at 622, fourth among active players. Plekanec, meanwhile, will have to wait a bit longer to play his 1,000th career game — he is currently at 998.
“They’re never easy decisions,” Canadiens coach Claude Julien said. “I think it’s pretty obvious that there’s two things happening there to those players, but I think at the end of the day we’re all mandated to do what’s best for the team first.