Chris Kreider’s absence has turned Montreal’s night against Colorado into a lineup puzzle, and Martin St-Louis is already reshuffling the board.
The Canadiens confirmed Kreider will miss six to eight weeks after he left Thursday’s game in Boston in the third period and headed back to Montreal without an immediate update. That leaves a clear hole for a team that has been rolling through one of its best stretches of the season.
Montreal is coming off a 5-2 win over Boston, a result that pushed the club to 12-3-4 and into second place in the Atlantic Division. The Canadiens are also 8-0-2 over their last 10, so the injury lands at a time when confidence is running high and the timing feels especially harsh.
Kreider has 9 points in 19 games this season, including 3 goals, but his value goes beyond the scoresheet. At 35, he brings 351 goals in 977 NHL games, plus the kind of size and net-front presence that changes how a team attacks around the crease.
St-Louis has already made the move to fill the opening, with Florian Xhekaj stepping into the lineup. It gives the young forward a chance to carve out a larger role while Montreal adjusts to life without the veteran winger. If the depth starts to get stretched over the next few weeks, the Canadiens could also look for another forward.
The good news for Montreal is that it has handled pressure well, especially away from home. The Canadiens are 7-1-1 on the road, a record that suggests they can keep moving even with a key piece missing.
There’s another change in goal tonight, too. According to Eric Engels, Jakub Dobes will start against Colorado. Kreider and goaltender Jacob Fowler are both out, while defenseman Mike Matheson is a game-time decision.
Dobes has appeared in 7 games this season, compared to Fowler’s 12, and he also brings more NHL experience with 66 career appearances to Fowler’s 29.
Colorado won’t make the assignment any easier. Jared Bednar’s club comes in at 11-6-3 after Thursday’s 4-3 overtime loss in Ottawa.
So Montreal gets an immediate test: keep the momentum going, absorb the loss of Kreider, and find a way through a dangerous Avalanche team at the Bell Centre.
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Canadiens Hot Streak Meets A Growing Injury Concern
The Canadiens recent surge has come with a familiar kind of late-season unease, the sort that can shadow a hot streak even when the results keep piling up. Chris Kreider exited a recent game because of an injury, and his status remains uncertain, while Nick Suzuki and Mike Matheson have also been dealing with discomfort as the team has offered only limited detail on either player.
For a club that has kept winning through the stretch, the concern is less about what has already happened than what happens if the wear starts to catch up. Montreal has been able to keep its momentum despite the bumps, but the injury picture is getting crowded enough that every update now carries a little more weight. [Read more 🡒]