"I got a text message from his girlfriend, who was replying to me," forward Nicolas Deslauriers told the Canadiens website Sunday. "It's a nice way to start the day, we're happy. I'm going to call him or text him as soon as I leave here, just to see if he needs anything."
Danault's father posted a message in French on his Facebook page Saturday that said, in part, "I would simply like to tell you that Phillip is doing well and that the scan was normal. He will be kept at the hospital tonight for precautionary observation."
The Canadiens and Bruins returned to play the remainder of the second period then switched ends to immediately begin the third. Boston won 4-3 in a shootout.
"He was talking to me and responding so that made me feel better that he's responding and he's OK, and he's not in a condition that he's not responding," said Chara, who remained nearby while Danault was down, after the game. "So I was glad that he was doing OK and he's hopefully going to recover."
Danault, 24, had an assist on a first-period goal by Max Pacioretty and has 23 points (seven goals, 16 assists) in 43 games this season.
"Everyone in the NHL is like that; there's a respect for the other players," center Jonathan Drouin said. "You put hockey aside for a good 15-20 minutes. It was an accident, a slapshot that got a bit too high and that hit him in the face. It's tough to see that, but it was an accident. But when you see all the Boston guys who stayed, [Patrice] Bergeron gave him a little tap -- he knows Phil -- you forget about hockey, you put it aside.
"Phil is a player who plays both ends of the ice. He's an important player -- for the power play, penalty kill. He's a big piece of ours at center, but every time someone gets hurt, other guys need to step up."
The Canadiens (18-20-5) play the New York Islanders at Bell Centre on Monday (7:30 p.m. ET; NBCSN, TSN2, RDS). Montreal is 2-1-1 since a five-game losing streak (0-5-5) and eight points behind the Pittsburgh Penguins for the second wild card into the Stanley Cup Playoffs from the Eastern Conference.
"There are some big games coming up," Drouin said. "We like the way we've played the past three games. The Islanders are doing very well, they're scoring a lot of goals, so we'll have to be good defensively."
