This morning, we learned that Brendan Gallagher would be benched tonight. This is big news, given that, as we know, he holds a certain status within the team.
He's been here for nearly 15 years, wears an A on his jersey, and hasn't been scratched since the first game of his career: seeing him get scratched is a big deal.
Gallagher was actually a healthy scratch for the first game of his career, the home opener of his rookie season in 2013. He has not been a healthy scratch since. https://t.co/3vngu1BOg5
— Arpon Basu (@ArponBasu) March 14, 2026
That said, seeing Gallagher benched tonight is also big news for the rest of his career. After all, it's worth noting that Gally still had a chance to reach the 1,000-game milestone in Montreal next season if he didn't miss any games between now and the end of the upcoming regular season. And by sitting him out tonight, even if he played in every remaining game this season and all 84 games next season, he wouldn't reach 1,000—he'd stop at 999.Brendan Gallagher, who's currently at 898 games, would've had to play all 18 games remaining this season and 84 games next season, to reach 1,000 career games. For the first time in his career, he will be a healthy scratch tonight. pic.twitter.com/jDU3IHIosT
— /r/Habs (@HabsOnReddit) March 14, 2026