Habs Daily: Laine Nearing A Return, 4 Nations Goalies, Dach

Make sure to check out the Montreal Canadiens news items, highlights, and stories you may have missed on Tuesday.

Montreal Canadiens News

There was some good news in the health department, as the Habs announced injured forward Patrik Laine will indeed make the trip to Columbus on Wednesday. That doesn’t necessarily mean he’ll play, as Martin St-Louis suggested he’s not quite ready, but it’s certainly a sign that he’s almost ready to make his debut with the Canadiens. Mike Matheson missed Tuesday’s game, but he will also travel with the team. [Potential Impact Of Patrik Laine’s Return To Canadiens Lineup]

Patrik Laine sera du voyage avec l’équipe à Columbus

Patrik Laine will travel with the team to Columbus#GoHabsGo pic.twitter.com/XsKIKcak27

— Canadiens Montréal (@CanadiensMTL) November 27, 2024

The Habs had yet another lifeless game on Tuesday, but they did manage to push the Utah Hockey Club to overtime, where Canadiens draft pick Mikhail Sergachev scored the winner. Alex Newhook and Jayden Struble were the goalscorers for the home team. [Habs Highlights: Canadiens Drop First Ever Game Versus Utah]

Team Canada has picked two goaltenders to represent the country at the upcoming 4 Nations Faceoff, but Samuel Montembeault was not among them. Jordan Binnington and Adin Hill were the net minders tapped for the assignment, and it’s worth mentioning that they currently own an .891 and an .887 save percentage, respectively, which means there’s still a chance the Canadiens goalie could end up playing for Team Canada, as he possesses much better numbers than either Hill or Binnington. [RDS]

St-Louis discussed Kirby Dach’s struggles prior to the game against Utah, explaining that it was a combination of several factors at play, not just his injury.

Habs coach Marty St. Louis today on Kirby Dach’s struggles this season:

“I think it’s a combination of things. The injury is definitely part of it. I think now you accumulate that with not the start that he was hoping for. So there was a physical, mental aspect. Now there is a… pic.twitter.com/i0XANjhOYY

— /r/Habs (@HabsOnReddit) November 26, 2024

National Hockey Now Network

A day after a positive, uplifting coach Mike Sullivan ran the Pittsburgh Penguins practice at the UPMC Lemieux Facility, the angry version of Sullivan made an appearance. [Pittsburgh Penguins]

For the first 20 minutes of Monday night’s game against the visiting Vegas Golden Knights, it looked like the Philadelphia Flyers were going to run away with one against a bigger, stronger, more talented, and more experienced team. The unfortunate reality was that the Flyers, who took a 3-0 lead in the second period through to Emil Andrae’s first NHL goal, suffered another terrible second period and blew the 3-0 lead. [Philadelphia Flyers]

It’ll be an early Thanksgiving for Timo Meier. The New Jersey Devils forward received a one-game suspension from the Department of Player Safety for an illegal cross-check to the face of Nashville Predators forward, Zachary L’Heureux. [New Jersey Devils]