Montreal Canadiens' Max Pacioretty, left, and head coach Michel Therrien keep an eye on the team's practice Tuesday, April 14, 2015, in Brossard, Que.Ryan Remiorz/The Canadian Press
If there were a side competition among NHL coaches for humour and most colourful use of language in the playoffs, Ottawa's Dave Cameron would be the guy to beat.
When asked on Friday whether he expects game two between his Senators and the Montreal Canadiens to be a bloodbath of retaliation and frontier justice, he said: "it's going to be like trying to break into a police station and steal something – you ain't getting away with it."
Earlier, he opened his daily press conference with an extemporaneous comment about the Dow Jones average being down more than 200 points because of bad economic news.
Tension? What tension?
Yet the Sens are in a delicate position, down 1-0 in the series and facing the prospect of a limited Mark Stone for game two (7 p.m., CBC) – or his replacement in the lineup by a lesser player like aging tough guy Chris Neil.
Stone skated for about seven minutes during an optional pregame workout, taking a couple of half-hearted shots with his damaged right wrist (the injury courtesy of a P.K. Subban slash in game one).
Cameron said his inclusion will be a game-time decision, although he suggested if it were up to the player he'd be in the lineup.
Montreal also has question marks involving game two's lineup, winger Pierre-Alexandre Parenteau is out with an upper-body injury, top scorer Max Pacioretty may be in line for a return from a suspected concussion, but like Stone his status will formally be determined following the pregame warmup.
Should Pacioretty not be available the suggestion is coach Michel Therrien will either opt for a bench that includes seven defencemen or dress fourth-line centre Manny Malhotra.
As for the Sens' surliness index ahead of Friday's match-up, it's probably best described as mild to moderate.
Winger Bobby Ryan suggested there's no point in going after Subban because "P.K. will feed off that, he loves that kind of stuff."
That's not to say Ottawa won't slam Subban into the boards with a little extra zest when the option arises, just that it's a poor idea to expend energy on vengeance.
"I'm not going to go head-hunting, and I don't think anybody will," he said.