Practice: Oliver Kapanen did not practice with the top six

Charles-Alexis Brisebois
Practice: Oliver Kapanen did not practice with the top six
Credit: Capture d'écran / X

This morning, the Canadiens practiced in Pittsburgh.

Naturally, we were keeping an eye on the line combinations. Was Martin St-Louis going to make any changes from what we saw in yesterday's practice?

Yesterday, Oliver Kapanen practiced alternately with Alexandre Texier, Florian Xhekaj worked with Josh Anderson, and Adam Engstrom was paired with Kaiden Guhle, who isn't allowed to take hits.

So, what's the lineup for this morning?

According to Renaud Lavoie, the forward lines and defensive pairs haven't changed. So it's the same as in the game in Toronto and during yesterday's practice.

This suggests that Kapanen won't return to the lineup tomorrow (unless he actually takes Alexandre Texier's spot on the wing) in Pittsburgh.

As for Xhekaj and Engstrom, all signs point to them sitting out tomorrow's game. It makes sense: the Habs won their last game.

I expect Xhekaj to return to Laval once Kapanen is ready to play. But we'll see in due time what's in store for the other guy's brother.

In the meantime, having him with the team for the closed-door retirement ceremony in Pittsburgh is a good idea. It'll help him when—inevitably—he has to play with the Habs this season.

Details to follow…

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