Vigneault still has the backs of Stepan and Kreider

Former New York Rangers head coach Alain Vigneault is a good bench boss with a long memory.

Someone pass Marc Bergevin a tissue. The Montreal Canadiens’ general manager is crying again. This time it’s over former New York Rangers head coach Alain Vigneault’s comment regarding injured Habs forward Brendan Gallagher.

Vigneault, whose Philadelphia Flyers were battling Montreal in the first round of the Playoffs, was not the least sympathetic toward Gallagher, whose jaw was broken in Game Five on Wednesday by a cross-check from Flyers’ defenseman Matt Niskanen.

“Brendan Gallagher will be missing an extended period of time,” said Bergevin, Habs’ GM since 2012. “And (he) will be eating his meals out of a straw.”

Such whine and cheese is nothing new from the Canadiens’ organization. They did plenty of it during and after the 2014 Conference Finals, which they lost in six games to the Rangers while showing no remorse for the cheapshot that broke Derek Stepan’s jaw and fueling the belief that Chris Kreider intentionally fell into and injured star goalie Carey Price.

Six years later, the Canadiens are again reaching for the tissues. And it’s as laughable now as it was then.

Niskanen was suspended for Game Six.

Gallagher required surgery to repair the damage and is done for the season. Even if the 5-foot-8, 184-pound Canadiens’ pest wanted to play he couldn’t because he has to leave the Toronto bubble for the procedure and must quarantine for four days upon returning.

If there had been a Game Seven on Sunday, Niskanen would have returned to play while Gallagher would have been forced to merely watch.

Vigneault was not sympathetic.

Prior to learning the extent of Gallagher’s injury on Thursday, Vigneault said: “Gallagher got up and seemed fine. He was talking to the referees. The whole time that he was on the bench he was talking to our players for the rest of the game. Gallagher’s a very competitive player. I don’t think it’s Nisky’s fault that he might not be as tall as some of the other guys, but he competes as big, if not bigger than anybody else. Just seemed a hockey play that unfortunately cut (Gallagher) a little bit.”

Bergevin countered on Friday morning, telling the Montreal Gazette: “I was expecting more and I’m extremely disappointed that AV would make a comment about a player’s injuries without knowing the extent of it. Brendan Gallagher will be missing an extended period of time and will be eating his meals out of a straw. I don’t wish that on anybody — and that includes the Flyers players. It’s a battle out there and we don’t want people to get hurt like that.”

Given the opportunity on Friday afternoon to amend his comments now knowing Gallagher’s plight, Vigneault doubled down.

“At the end of the day, I can only state the facts… Gallagher got up and his mouth didn’t shut up for at least five minutes to the referees, the linesmen, and to our bench,” Vigneault told reporters.

Bergevin can whine all he wants about the brevity of Niskanen’s punishment and Vigneault’s comments. He’s probably right. But, perhaps conveniently, he’s seemed to have forgotten about his team’s nonsense during the 2014 Conference Finals.

Vigneault had the last word when the Flyers eliminated the Canadiens with a 3-2 win in Game Six. But when it comes to 2014, you can be sure that Vigneault, one can bet, hasn’t forgotten.