Canadiens HC Martin St. Louis has work to do after recent bad news

Bad luck continues to stalk the Montreal Canadiens. After starting the season very well, they continue to accumulate losses and injuries.

After losing to the Boston Bruins 3-2 on Saturday, the Habs reached five losses in the last six games, with a record of 10-6-2. To make matters worse, the franchise announced a new injury on Sunday.

Kirby Dach suffers from a fracture in his right foot, and according to a post from the Canadiens, he will be out for between four and six weeks. Dach, 24, had recorded five goals and two assists in 15 games before getting injured.

The center joins Alex Newhook, Kaiden Guhle, and Patrik Laine on the injured list.

How will the Canadiens' character be tested by this wave of injuries

This streak of injuries could force the Canadiens to play more low-event hockey and focus on pace control. Without Dach/Newhook, puck-carrying and zone entries with possession are lost. In other words, the team must accept more dump-and-chase with active F1/F2 and an orderly reload to avoid rushes against.

Montreal's power play will need less cute and more shot-first to the bumper/high slot, traffic, and net-front rebounds. With mixed units, maintaining five-man cohesion will be key. The PK must be more aggressive, denying zone entries to protect the goalies who are not standing on their heads.

Coach Martin St. Louis will have to give a usage bump to the top line, but will have to avoid overload. Rotating minutes with Zack Bolduc/Ivan Demidov on power play and sheltered minutes for Joshua Roy could sustain scoring without burning Nick Suzuki/Cole Caufield. This stretch could be used as a test of organizational depth. If the rookies convert their reps into production, Montreal will come out stronger post-injuries.

A trade could also make sense, especially for a middle-six with shooting and transition, as long as the cost is reasonable and the term does not compromise the cap. That said, if the team stays in the fight in the Atlantic Division with internal solutions, the pressure to swing for the fences at the trade deadline will decrease.