Florian Xhekaj leaves practice after just a few minutes

Marc-Olivier Cook
Florian Xhekaj leaves practice after just a few minutes
Credit: Capture d'écran / X

The Canadiens practiced at the Bell Centre this morning.

It wasn't a game day: the team was taking its annual group photo, which is why practice was scheduled at the Bell Centre instead of Brossard.

Anyway, what stood out about this practice?

First off, it's worth noting that Mike Matheson and Oliver Kapanen were absent.

Both players were given a day of treatment, as the Habs announced on X. For Kapanen, this is a special case: we're still waiting for him to return to action… but we know the Canadiens are being cautious with him.

As for Matheson, let's hope this is just so he can give his body a rest.

On the bright side, Florian Xhekaj—who didn't play Saturday night because he wasn't 100 percent—was back at practice. But…

But the good news quickly turned into bad news, as Arber's younger brother had to leave practice after just a few minutes because his injury was bothering him too much.

I really hope he didn't make his injury worse.

It would therefore be surprising to see Florian play tomorrow night against the Sabres at the Bell Centre.

That said, what will Martin St-Louis' lineup look like? Will the Canadiens' head coach decide to go with eleven forwards and seven defensemen again?

I mean… it worked on Saturday against the Wings. Why change a winning formula—especially given that Florian might not be able to play? 

To be continued…


Overtime

Of course, we'll also have to keep an eye on the goaltending situation.

But here's my guess: we'll see Fowler in net tomorrow night at the Bell Centre before Jakub Dobes returns to the net on Wednesday against the Capitals.

And as for Saturday, we'll see when the time comes… because it'll depend on how those two guys perform in the back-to-back games against the Sabres and the Caps.

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