For the better part of the past two seasons, former Montreal Canadiens captain Max Pacioretty has been away from the game.
Forced to recover from a torn Achilles, many speculated that the 35-year-old would have to hang up the skates for good. He proved them wrong, though, when he returned to action in his first game with the Washington Capitals on January 3.
And it didn’t take too long to get back into the swing of things. Pacioretty netted his first point after the two-year hiatus with an assist on a Dylan Strome goal during Sunday afternoon’s game against the Los Angeles Kings.
6 time 30 goal scorer Max Pacioretty is on the scoresheet! He strips the puck off a Kings player and sets in motion the Caps 2nd goal, his 1st assist of the season. #Patches pic.twitter.com/gSqFW2AX6K
— Allan Walshđ (@walsha) January 7, 2024
While Capitals defenceman Jon Carlson celebrated his 500th career assist as Washington took the game by a score of 4-3, it was Pacioretty who got all the shine in the locker room after the final buzzer.
In a video released by the team, head coach Spencer Carbery handed the 35-year-old the game puck in celebration of his first point with his new team.
“Speech! Speech!” a few Caps players yelled, urging the veteran winger to say a few words.
“That was a rough two years for me, boys,” the Connecticut native said, holding back tears. “If I learned one thing, it’s not to take things for granted.”
Gonna be thinking about this Patches speech for a long time#ALLCAPS pic.twitter.com/yUIJy4XiN8
— Washington Capitals (@Capitals) January 7, 2024
“That game proved we have a special group in here,” he added. “Let’s make sure we never take that feeling for granted.”
Spending a large chunk of his career with the Canadiens, who drafted him 22nd overall in 2007, Pacioretty was traded to the Vegas Golden Knights in 2018 in a deal involving Nick Suzuki.
After being dealt to the Carolina Hurricanes in July 2022, he suffered a torn Achilles during a workout. The injury kept him away from NHL action until January 2023. Then, after just five games with Carolina, Pacioretty once again tore his Achilles,
He joined Washington as a free agent in the 2023 offseason, agreeing to a one-year, $2 million deal.