Mike Matheson is on the verge of returning, and that’s about to hand Martin St. Louis a tricky blue-line puzzle.
After missing the last six games with an injury, Matheson practiced in full on Wednesday and is reportedly set to travel with Montreal to Boston. That usually points to a player being ready to go, and it raises the possibility he could be back as early as Thursday against the Bruins.
The timing is awkward in the best possible way for the Canadiens. Montreal’s defense has held up well without him, and the group is coming off what might have been its strongest outing of the season against the Minnesota Wild. That makes the decision less about filling a hole and more about avoiding the kind of shuffle that can throw a good unit off balance.
Matheson has been a fixture on the Canadiens’ back end for years, averaging more than 24 minutes of ice time per game over the last five seasons. In eight games this season, he has four points and is sitting at 23:45 per night, just under that familiar workload.
The bigger question is how Montreal lines up if he’s back in the fold. The Canadiens probably don’t want to break up the pairs that have been working: Lane Hutson-Noah Dobson, Kaiden Guhle-Alexandre Carrier, and Arber Xhekaj-Adam Engstrom. All three combinations have been effective, but keeping Matheson out of the lineup doesn’t really feel like a realistic option either.
If he returns against Boston, Engstrom looks like the most likely player to come out. That said, the Xhekaj-Engstrom duo has been the most productive of the group in expected goals percentage, posting a 62.48% xGF% over more than 30 minutes together, according to Natural Stat Trick.
The next-best pair by that metric is Matheson and Carrier at 61.92%, though they’ve logged only 33 minutes together. It’s a small sample, but it does offer a path that preserves the Hutson-Dobson pairing, which has been Montreal’s best on the back end.
That setup would leave Guhle alongside Xhekaj, a combination the Canadiens haven’t used much. Still, both players have been strong this season, and it could be the cleanest way to get the six defensemen who are expected to play into the lineup without disturbing the flow too much.
St. Louis’ main concern is simple: don’t mess with what’s been working.
Once everyone is healthy, Montreal could end up rotating seven defensemen regularly anyway, so these pairings may only be the starting point. But if Matheson is ready Thursday, the first challenge is figuring out how to keep the defense rolling without breaking its rhythm.
In Other News...
Canadiens Suddenly Face A Bigger Concern Ahead Of Bruins Trip
Nick Suzuki and Jake Evans were both absent from Canadiens practice Wednesday, with the team classifying the missed session as maintenance following the clubs most recent game. Montreal confirmed the two forwards were not on the ice but did not offer any further detail, leaving the group to sort through a little more uncertainty as it prepares for a trip to Boston.
Suzukis status is the more notable concern because he briefly left Tuesdays game before returning and scoring Montreals only goal, while Evans had already been managing discomfort since Monday. For a team heading into a divisional matchup with the Bruins, any question about the availability of two important centers is worth watching closely, especially with no immediate update on whether either will be ready to go. [Read more 🡒]
Cole Caufield Just Sparked A Bigger Canadiens Debate Than The Loss
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What made his comments resonate was the broader point behind them: Caufield wants more accountability from officials and believes they should be able to explain what they saw instead of simply signaling a penalty and moving on. For a Canadiens team still chasing consistency, it is the kind of postgame critique that can linger well beyond one loss, especially when it taps into a league-wide debate about transparency on the ice. [Read more 🡒]
Nick Suzuki Scare Had Canadiens Fans Holding Their Breath
Nick Suzuki gave Canadiens fans a scare in the third period, leaving the game briefly before returning to the ice and settling things down in a hurry. Montreals captain has been a central part of the clubs offense all season, appearing in 12 of the teams 18 games and continuing to drive play at the top of the lineup.
The good news for Montreal is that the concern did not linger long after the final whistle, with the team indicating Suzuki is fine after his short absence. Even so, any moment like that tends to tighten the mood around a team that leans so heavily on its top center, especially when he has been one of the most important contributors to the Canadiens attack. [Read more 🡒]