Canadiens' Max Pacioretty opens up on offseason knee injury, skates for 1st time

Montreal Canadiens sniper Max Pacioretty shed light on his injury suffered during offseason training, revealing in an interview with Dave Stubbs of the Montreal Gazette that he suffered fractures on the tibial plateau below his left knee.

He explained that while doing sprint work in July, he felt a tug on his oft-injured hamstring, pulled up, and suffered the damage when his momentum caused him to hyperextend his knee.

"I was in a lot of pain, thinking the worst," Pacioretty said. "But you know, all things considered, it could have been a lot worse than it was. It meant no surgery and it's healed well up to this point, which means it's healed straight without the need for surgery."

It's too early to determine when Pacioretty will be fully healthy, but the winger took the ice for the first time since suffering the injury Tuesday, taking a light, 20-minute skate at the team's practice facility.

He's spent the summer in Montreal, rehabbing daily in an effort to be on the ice when the Canadiens open their season Oct. 7 versus the Toronto Maple Leafs.