Habs star Pacioretty suffers knee injury

MONTREAL (AP) — Montreal Canadiens forward Max Pacioretty has a knee injury and could miss most of the preseason.

The 26-year-old Pacioretty, who plays left wing on Montreal’s top line, led the team with 37 goals, his second straight campaign of more than 35 goals.

Then again, Max Pacioretty has a penchant for recovering from seemingly serious injuries at a superhuman speed; for all we know, he could be back on the ice by mid-August.

Pacioretty was the leading scorer for the Canadiens last season.

He could also be sidelined for the start of the regular season.

The team predicted in its release that the injury would take 12 weeks to fully heal.

He has 144 goals and 136 assists for 280 points in 399 career games, and had 21 game-winning goals during the past two years.

It’s hard to argue that Pacioretty isn’t a game-changer, though.

“Some guys can never catch up to the other players; especially with how intense summer training has become and how well-conditioned everyone is coming into camp”, said the player. He has scored at least 30 goals in each of his last three full seasons.