90 games, although Gomez missed 30 of these games in the 2011–12 season. Of the games he played in, Gomez failed to score in the final 29 games of the 2010–11 season, the preceding seven-game playoff series against the Boston Bruins and the first 24 games he played in during the 2011–12 season – a total scoreless drought of 60 games. Gomez had 22 assists and had a plus-minus rating of −15 while registering 122 shots on goal during this period. The drought ended on February 9, 2012, with a one-timer goal during a 4–2 victory over the New York Islanders. 2012–13 lockout Due to the 2012–13 lockout, Gomez followed his previous steps and opted a return to the Alaska Aces of the ECHL. Initially on a training basis only with the Aces, Gomez signed to play in 2012–13 season, posting 13 points in 11 games. When the lockout was settled, the new collective bargaining agreement (CBA) directly affected Gomez in two ways — first, it forced teams to count any American Hockey League (AHL) player's salary above $900,000 against its NHL cap, meaning the Canadiens could not "bury" Gomez's salary by sending him to their AHL affiliate, as had been previously done with players such as Wade Redden, to clear cap room. Second, it allowed for up to two contracts per team to be bought out for up to two-thirds of the remaining salary, without the buyout counting against the cap in the 2013 and/or 2014 off-seasons, so as to help teams get under the reduced cap. However, the buyouts could not be used on injured players, so, to avoid any risk of a hockey-related injury, on January 13, 2013, the first day of the Canadiens training camp, Gomez was directed by General Manager Marc Bergevin to stay home for the shortened season to ensure a buy-out at the end of the season. While this meant that Gomez (along with Wade Redden who, due to the provision regarding AHL salaries, was in a similar situation) would still have been paid his pro-rated 2012–13 salary despite not playing, the NHL Players' Association (NHLPA) was concerned that Gomez and Redden being forced to spend an entire year away from hockey would adversely affect their ability to find employment elsewhere in the NHL during the 2013 off-season, even at a much reduced salary. On January 15, in order to avoid this process,