Habs Practice Report: Chiarot, Allen, Poehling, Dvorak, Drouin

There was plenty of news from the game-day skate for the Montreal Canadiens Tuesday as they prepared for their game with the Arizona Coyotes at the Bell Centre Tuesday night.

The biggest news from Brossard Tuesday was that Montreal Canadiens defenceman Ben Chiarot will be a healthy scratch Tuesday night and likely until the Habs can trade him or until after the March 21 NHL Trade Deadline passes. An NHL source told Montreal Hockey Now that the Pittsburgh Penguins were pushing hard to acquire the rugged rearguard.

The Montreal Canadiens also announced that forward Ryan Poehling is out indefinitely with an upper-body injury.

Montreal Canadiens goaltender Jake Allen skated with the team again and is inching closer to a return. There’s optimism that he could draw into the lineup on Thursday when the Montreal Canadiens host the Dallas Stars.

Jonathan Drouin and Christian Dvorak joined the Canadiens in regular practice jerseys today, a sign that they could be close to returns. Although they were permitted to practice with full contact, the Montreal Canadiens would rather take their time in bringing them back in the lineup. It’s worth noting that the Canadiens would have to trim their roster by two players since both Dvorak and Drouin are on Injury Reserve at the moment and do not count against the 23-man roster limit.

Artturi Lehkonen’s name has been in the rumour mill for well over a month now, and his absence from practice sent many into a frenzy. The team announced though that it was simply another maintenance day. Lehkonen hasn’t yet been ruled out of tonight’s game against the Coyotes.

Canadiens defenceman Brett Kulak and forward Josh Anderson also took part in maintenance Days but will be in the lineup against the Arizona Coyotes.