The Montreal Canadiens may be without one of their top defensemen after Kaiden Guhle suffered an undisclosed lower-body injury in Tuesday’s 4–1 loss to the Winnipeg Jets.
Guhle crashed awkwardly into the boards early in the third period and immediately appeared to favor his right leg before heading to the bench and into the locker room skating without help.
Montreal confirmed the injury postgame, stating that Guhle will require further evaluation before a timeline is determined.
The 23-year-old has been an integral part of the Canadiens’ blue line this season, ranking third on the team in ice time with an average of 21:14 minutes per game while producing 14 points in 44 games this season.
Kaiden Guhle went straight to the locker room after an awkward fall into the boards in the corner, does not look good at all#GoHabsGo pic.twitter.com/0loSNxddsP
— Hockey Daily 365 l NHL Highlights & News (@HockeyDaily365) January 29, 2025
Teammates Nick Suzuki and Patrik Laine expressed their concern following the game, both acknowledging Guhle’s importance to the team.
“Yeah, (expletive) feeling seeing him skate off like that,” Suzuki said. “Hopefully, he’s alright. Haven’t heard anything, so I’ll go check up on him after this.”
Laine echoed Suzuki's sentiment, emphasizing the challenge of making up for one of the best blueliners in the Habs lineup.
“Yeah, sucks," Laine said. "He’s one of our best D-men and it sucks losing him, especially late in the game."
Guhle already missed time at the start of the season due to an upper-body injury, and this new injury comes at a bad time for a surging Canadiens team that has put together a solid run of results of late, winning seven of their last 12 games and only losing three of the other five in regulation.
The Canadiens have a 24–21-5 record good for fifth in the Eastern Conference's wild-card race, but the Habs are only two points behind the Tampa Bay Lightning for the second and final wild-card berth.
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