Canadiens Practice: New Lines, New Players, Injuries

The Montreal Canadiens held their first practice since the All-Star break, which consequently led to a plethora of news.

Neither Sean Monahan nor Joel Edmundson took part in the regular practice, but they did jump on the ice about an hour before the rest of the team, connoting that a return to play is on the horizon.

The Canadiens also recalled Alex Belzile and Jesse Ylonen on an emergency basis from their AHL affiliate, the Laval Rocket. Both players were present at practice.

Jonathan Drouin, who hadn’t played since Jan.15, was also present at practice.

Joel Armia, on the other hand, did not yet recover from his upper-body injury that occurred when Jacob Trouba elbowed him in the ribs, and consequently did not take part in the afternoon skate. He had started skating prior to the All-Star break but is not ready to resume his regular duties.

Lines

Head coach Martin St-Louis ran the following forward lines:

Rafael Harvey-Pinard, Nick Suzuki, Josh Anderson

Mike Hoffman, Kirby Dach, Evgenii Dadonov

Rem Pitlick, Christian Dvorak, Jesse Ylonen

Jonathan Drouin, Alex Belzile, Michael Pezzetta

It’s worth noting the top line, featuring Harvey-Pinard, was excellent in the small sample size that arose from their one game together against the Ottawa Senators.

MUST READ: Harvey-Pinard’s emergence key for the trade deadline

As for the defensive pairings, St-Louis also changed things up, lining up Arber Xhekaj on the left alongside David Savard on the top pairing, with Mike Matheson joining Justin Barron on the second pairing. The third pairing featured Jordan Harris and Jonathan Kovacevic, with veteran Chris Wideman as the extra skater.

Canadiens say Joel Armia skated alone this morning and is day to day. Joel Edmundson and Sean Monahan skated for the first time this morning after being off the ice though the break. Nothing offered as far as a new timeline for them.

— Arpon Basu (@ArponBasu) February 9, 2023

The most important development on Thursday was the return to a relatively normal lineup, featuring the proper number of forwards and defencemen. Due to a lack of healthy forwards, St-Louis had been forced to ice a lineup with just 11 forwards for a significant portion of January, a frustrating challenge for the Canadiens bench boss.

The Canadiens will face the New York Islanders on Saturday. The puck drop is scheduled for 12:30 PM ET.