The Canadiens just can't catch a break as the injuries pile up

TOPICS:break can039t Canadiens catch injuries pile

Posted By: jasabacklink November 21, 2023

The injuries are piling up for the Canadiens — again.

The team announced Tuesday that defenceman Jordan Harris will be out indefinitely with a lower-body injury, while forward Rafaël Harvey-Pinard will miss 6-8 weeks with a lower-body injury. Harvey-Pinard has missed the last two games and five of the last eight. Harris played in Saturday’s 5-2 loss to the Bruins in Boston, but had missed the previous two games.

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The Canadiens were already missing forward Kirby Dach, who suffered a season-ending knee injury in the second game of the season, and veteran defenceman David Savard, who suffered a fractured hand during a game in Buffalo on Oct. 23 that is expected to keep him out for another 2-4 weeks. Defenceman Arber Xhekaj missed Saturday’s game in Boston and is listed as day-to-day with an upper-body injury. Xhekaj didn’t travel to California with the team for a three-game road trip that starts Wednesday in Anaheim against the Ducks (10 p.m., TSN2, RDS, TSN 690 Radio, 98.5 FM).

Harris did make the trip to California after missing practice Monday in Brossard with what the team called a therapy day. Harris will return to Montreal now to undergo further testing and evaluation of his injury. Harvey-Pinard was placed on the injured-reserve list on Monday.

Last season, the Canadiens set an NHL record with 751 man-games lost to injury, breaking their own record of 720 man-games lost from the previous season. After last season, the Canadiens fired Graham Rynbend, their longtime head athletic therapist who had been with the team for 19 years, and Donald Balmfort, who had spent two seasons as the team’s head physiotherapist.

The Canadiens called up defenceman Jayden Struble from the AHL’s Laval Rocket on Monday and will call up another player from Laval later on Tuesday.

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