Patrik Laine, Kirby Dach, and Josh Anderson practiced this morning

Marc-Olivier Cook
Patrik Laine, Kirby Dach, and Josh Anderson practiced this morning
Credit: Charles-Alexis Brisebois

Following yesterday's 4-0 loss to the Red Wings, the Canadiens held an optional practice this morning at the CN Complex in Brossard.

And we'll start things off with some good news: Josh Anderson was on the ice with some of his teammates.

Colleague Charles-Alexis Brisebois, who was on hand, spotted him with Jakub Dobes, Jacob Fowler, Samuel Montembeault, Owen Beck, Joe Veleno, Samuel Blais, Zachary Bolduc, Jayden Struble, Kirby Dach, Patrik Laine, and Adam Nicholas.

This is the first time we've seen Anderson skate since his injury.

He wasn't able to finish the game against the Hurricanes on January 1: we saw him enter the dressing room at the end of the second period looking pretty banged up.

Seeing him skate today is a good sign. It doesn't mean he's ready to return to action tomorrow, but it does show that he's making progress in his rehabilitation.

It's also worth noting that all three Habs goaltenders were present and went solo with Éric Raymond:

I mentioned this briefly at the beginning of my text, but it's interesting to note that Patrik Laine and Kirby Dach were also on the ice this morning.

Laine seems to be getting closer to a return, as he's been skating for about two weeks… but as for Dach, we don't know what the Habs' plan is with him. The organization wants to err on the side of caution with #77, and it's hard to give him a return date under the current circumstances.

In short. Seeing Laine and Dach on the ice is encouraging on some levels too:

Laine, Dach, Anderson…

When these guys are ready to come back into the game, it's going to complicate things for Martin St-Louis. And I haven't even mentioned Jake Evans (who didn't practice this morning) and Alex Newhook…

There may well be some tough decisions to be made, because the Canadiens are enjoying success with their current recipe. The club lost yesterday, of course… but it was going really well before the game against the Wings with the players currently in place.

The coach will have a nice puzzle to solve, to put it another way.


Extension

The Canadiens play their next game tomorrow night at the Bell Centre.

The Vancouver Canucks will be visiting for the occasion. Who will play? Who won't?

We may have the answers to these questions in the next 24 hours. Tomorrow morning's practice at the Bell Centre may provide a few clues, after all.

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