BROSSARD, Que. - The Montreal Canadiens were surprised to learn that their Eastern Conference semifinal series against the Boston Bruins will start on Thursday night. They were expecting it to start on Friday, and the earlier date made for a busy day of preparations. The special teams unit was on the ice a half-hour early while the main practice went a full hour on Wednesday. "We werent really planning on playing a game (on Thursday), but it all works out better that way," said forward Max Pacioretty. "We were trying to cram in a bit of system stuff as well, so it was a gd practice. "We found out (Tuesday) night. I like it better that way. Theres a little less time to think. Were jumping right back into the action. I think thats when I play my best hockey, when Im not thinking." The Canadiens have been idle since completing a sweep of the Tampa Bay Lightning on April 22. The Bruins finished off the Detroit Red Wings in five games on Saturday. Although the NHL had not released a schedule, Canadiens general manager Marc Bergevin mentioned a Friday start in a television interview this week. The opener was moved up reportedly because Northeastern University has graduation ceremonies at the TD Garden on Friday morning. Game 2 is expected to be played Saturday at 120 pm ET, although that has not been confirmed. Pacioretty likes that, t. "I like playing afternn games," he said. "No meetings in the morning. Not thinking t much about the game. Just going out and playing." The Canadiens will have had eight days off between games. To break the monotony, they held a simulated game day on Monday, with a morning skate followed by an intra-squad game at night. Then they tk Tuesday off. "Im about ready to stop practising and start playing," said goalie Carey Price. Alex Bregman Jersey .The Dallas Cowboys released Sam from the practice squad Tuesday, dropping the rush end as they prepare for several potential reinforcements to return to the defensive line. Anthony Gose Jersey . Funny, they lked like longtime friends during Pittsburghs 5-1 demolition of Dallas on Tuesday night. Quick to the puck and even quicker to the net, the Penguins top line overwhelmed the suddenly struggling Stars as Pittsburgh bounced back from a dismal weekend sweep at the hands of Philadelphia by jumping on Dallas early. http://www.astrosteamproshop.com/Astros-...tt-Kids-Jersey/. Raonic, the No. 8 seed from Thornhill, Ont., fired 11 aces and did not have a double-fault as he comfortably advanced to the third round at the Masters Series event. Ken Giles Jersey . Since coming to the big leagues in late May, La Stella is 6 for 7 with the bases loaded, driving in 13 runs in those at-bats. J.R. Richard Jersey . First, Ivan Nova decided to have season-ending Tommy John elbow surgery. Then Michael Pineda was suspended for 10 games for using pine tar.Champions Tour golfer Steve Elkington drew plenty of attention over social media on Tuesday, sending out out two comments on Twitter about NFL prospect Michael Sam. "ESPN covering Michael Sam as a gay athlete is embarrassing..." read the first tweet. Hours later, Elkington tweeted, "ESPN reporting Michael Sam is leading the handbag throw at NFL combine...No one else expected to throw today." Elkington then clarified his remarks to a respondent, tweeting: "Im for Sam Im against ESPN telling me hes gay...." Sam, the Missouri defensive end who was the SEC defensive player of the year, could be the first openly gay player in the NFL if hes drafted in May. They werent Elkingtons first controversial comments made via Twitter..dddddddddddd Earlier this month, he made a misogynistic comment on the platform about a female golf writer and later apologized, saying that he had "been drinking." Late last year, he also made a remark about a fatal helicopter crash in Glasgow that killed eight people. "Helicopter crashes into Scottish pub... Locals report no beer was spilled," he wrote. During last years Senior British Open at the Royal Birkdale course in Southport, the Australian tweeted: "Couple caddies got rolled by some Pakkis (Pakistanis), bad night for them." And that followed a Twitter post in which Elkington wrote, "Things about Southport - fat tatted guy, fat tatted girl, trash, Pakistani robber guy, [expletive] fd." ' ' '