Canadiens Announce Injury Updates

The Canadiens have been among the teams that have been without several regulars for a good chunk of the season.  That will be continuing for a little while longer now.

TVA Sports’ Renaud Lavoie relays (Twitter link) that defenseman Mike Matheson will miss the next two weeks with a lower-body injury.  It’s the second lower-body issue of the month for the veteran, though it’s believed this latest one is something new, not a recurrence of the original.

The 32-year-old is a big part of Montreal’s back end.  He has led the team in ice time every year since the team acquired him back in 2022 and he’s the league leader in shorthanded playing time per game out of the gate this season.  Matheson has four points in eight games thus far in a little under 24 minutes per night of playing time.  Youngster Adam Engstrom will get a chance at some extended playing time, barring a recall in the coming days from AHL Laval.

Meanwhile, Lavoie also noted that goaltender Sam Montembeault has now been classified as out day-to-day.  Originally projected to miss 10-14 days with a lower-body injury from an injury sustained in practice, that timeline came and went last week with no update until now.  He has yet to play this season despite securing the backup role in training camp last month.

Jacob Fowler was recalled when Montembeault was sidelined and with how well he has played, it’s safe to assume that he won’t be sent back to Laval when Montembeault gets the green light to return.  At this point, a three-goalie situation looks like the eventual outcome once Montembeault comes back.

Lavoie relayed separately (Twitter link) that center Nick Suzuki was a full participant in Montreal’s morning skate today as he appears ahead of schedule in recovering from his hand injury.  While Sportsnet’s Eric Engels notes (Twitter link) that Suzuki won’t return tonight, it appears he’ll certainly be on the shorter end of the original two-to-four-week original recovery timeline.  The Canadiens have won all four games without their captain thus far but he still remains tied for the team lead in scoring with a dozen points in nine appearances.