injection to allow him to return for the final two games of the regular season and the 2021 Stanley Cup playoffs. In the first game of the Canadiens' round one series against the Toronto Maple Leafs, Byron scored the game-winning goal on a breakaway where he was tripped by opposing defenseman Rasmus Sandin but made the shot from his knees. The Montreal Gazette observed that "the goal will be on highlight reels for years to come." The Canadiens lost the next three games of the series and were on the brink of elimination, by which point Byron's hip pain had returned, and he willed himself to play what "could be your last game of the year. You just got to grind through it, push through it, give everything you have." However, the Canadiens would go on to win the next three games to take the series, beginning a deep run to the 2021 Stanley Cup Finals. Byron played the entire time, saying that "the more the adrenaline kind of hit, the more you got into playoffs, it was like the pain and everything just started to disappear." The Canadiens lost in the Finals to the Tampa Bay Lightning, four games to one. Following the Finals, Byron opted to undergo left hip surgery, and missed the first half of the 2021–22 season. After returning to the lineup amidst a historically poor season for the Canadiens, Byron played his 500th game in the NHL on February 17, 2021, scoring a goal in the team's 3–2 victory over the St. Louis Blues. He played twenty-five games, being sidelined three times with other injuries, to his frustration. These health problems continued into the 2022–23 season, with his left hip again preventing him from skating. On October 11, the Canadiens placed Byron on long-term injured reserve. Personal life Byron and his wife Sarah Leblond have a daughter and son together. Career statistics Awards and honours References Career statistics: External links 1989 births Living people Abbotsford Heat players Buffalo Sabres draft picks Buffalo Sabres players Calgary Flames players Canadian expatriate ice hockey players in the United States Canadian ice hockey centres Gatineau Olympiques players Ice hockey people from Ottawa Montreal Canadiens players Portland Pirates players