"Nine seconds into his first shift, 1:15 into the game Wednesday night, Canadiens forward Rene Bourque answered a bell that had been tolling for 15 days.

There was no doubt - none - that Bourque was going to have to put up his dukes for having concussed Washington Capitals centreman Nicklas Backstrom on Jan. 3, back when Bourque was a member of the Calgary Flames."