Habs Daily: Rookie D-Men Shining, AHL Playoffs, Dach’s Impact

All the latest Habs news, recent Montreal Canadiens stories, as well as information from around the National Hockey League.

Habs News

• With five rookies playing on the Canadiens blueline, expectations were rather low, but the young players in the Canadiens’ defensive group did not disappoint. [Canadiens Rookies Outplaying Veterans]
• The Montreal Canadiens have had the luxury of calling up some quality reinforcements in the face of injuries, making for some tough decisions ahead. [Laval Rocket Playoffs Lead To Difficult Decisions]
• Kirby Dach’s return from the injured reserve is great news for the Canadiens, but there is one unfortunate side effect when you consider the upcoming Draft Lottery. [Dach’s Return Is A Good News/Bad News Situation]
• Dach did not waste any time making an impact, scoring less than 10 minutes into Tuesday night’s matchup with the Tampa Bay Lightning. [Dach Scores In Return]

National Hockey Now News

• At this pace, the New York Islanders could make the 2023 NHL playoffs without playing another game. They have 11 games to go, but the Pittsburgh Penguins can’t beat anybody. [New York Islanders]
• The Boston Bruins will have another injury to deal with over the final month of the regular season as shutdown defenseman Derek Forbort has been ruled out from returning prior to the playoffs with a lower body injury. [Boston Bruins]
• The Pittsburgh Penguins had two goalies at practice Tuesday at Ball Arena. However, Casey DeSmith was not one of them. Former Hab Jeff Petry was also spotted skating. [Pittsburgh Penguins]
• Three-on-three hockey is coming to Philadelphia. Think of it as an NHL overtime period — for 16 minutes. The eight-team league, known as 3ICE, announced recently it will have a stop at the Wells Fargo Center on Saturday, Aug. 12 at 1 p.m. [Philadelphia Flyers]
• Stop us if you have heard this before: The Florida Panthers and their playoff hopes are being helped along by the recent struggles of the Penguins. [Florida Panthers]
• The Detroit Red Wings, on the road to play the St. Louis Blues tonight, recalled forward Matt Luff from the Grand Rapids Griffins under emergency conditions. [Detroit Red Wings]
• Washington Capitals defenseman John Carlson is one step closer to making his return from a 90MPH slapshot to the face. [Washington Capitals]
• The National Hockey League announced today that Fanatics will become the league’s jersey and main apparel outfitter, replacing Adidas starting in the 2024-25 season. The deal between the NHL and Fanatics is a ten-year deal and marks the first time Fanatics will be on a professional sports team jersey. [Vegas Golden Knights]