The tears came even as P.K. Subban smiled and waved to the Bell Centre fans.
Tears streaked his cheeks as the former Canadiens defenceman got a long standing ovation before his first game back in Montreal as a Nashville Predator on Thursday night.
Chants of “P.K., P.K.” filled the 21,000 seat arena as a video montage of his flashy moves on the ice as a Canadien from 2009 until he was dealt to Nashville last June 29. The Toronto native stood at the blue-line with his teammates for the pre-game tribute and soaked it all in.
subban tears would normally be my sustenance but THIS MAKES ME SAD pic.twitter.com/Gy8qXo8zce
Paul Byron scored with nine seconds left to play as the Montreal Canadiens defeated the visiting Nashville Predators 2-1 on Thursday in P.K. Subban’s first game against Montreal since being traded last summer.
Brendan Gallagher also scored for Montreal (36-21-8). Carey Price made 24 saves as the Canadiens extended their winning streak to four games.
Ryan Ellis scored the lone goal for the Predators (32-23-9) before leaving the game with a lower-body injury. Pekka Rinne stopped 24 of 26 shots in defeat.
Byron poked the puck away from Matt Irwin in the neutral zone and chased it down the length of the ice on a breakaway with time running out in the third period. Rinne got his body on Byron’s shot but the puck trickled past him.
The loss is Nashville’s first in regulation time in Montreal since Jan. 15, 2009 as Peter Laviolette’s men saw their four-game winning streak snapped.
