Canadiens forward Rafaël Harvey-Pinard appeared relieved to play against the Bruins tonight after missing three games with a lower-body injury.

The Quebecer hasn’t played since November 2, the day he injured himself in a bad fall on the ramp during a duel against the Coyotes in Arizona.

Luckily for him, there was more fear than harm, even if he had to be away for a while.

“It wasn’t too serious, but at the same time you don’t want to miss any games,” he explained on the sidelines of training this morning. I was definitely looking forward to getting back into the team and playing with the boys.”

“Sometimes you always see the worst, but then it’s the treatments and it was good,” he also mentioned. It’s about coming back slowly, not quickly.”

As he sat on the bridge at last Thursday’s game, he had nothing but good things to say about his teammates’ performance in the 3-2 win over the Red Wings.

“They played a complete game, they were patient, they played within the system,” he noted. There weren’t many turnovers in this game and it was a great team win.”

Finally, a return to play while the Boston Bruins are in town adds a lot of spice to the situation.

“When I was young, these games were the most exciting, especially on a Saturday night,” recalls the number 49. “It’s always fun to play against him,” I’m excited and can’t wait.”

Watch his press conference in the main video.