With a win tonight against the Detroit Red Wings, the Montreal Canadiens will be the sole holder of third in the Atlantic Division.
Based on what happened with the Montreal Canadiens over the summer, a lot of people were making their predictions as to how they would win their games. Blowing teams out of the water wasn’t that bold of a statement since we knew that they would have trouble scoring. When it came down to it, it would come down to effective defensive play and Carey Price.
The team is on a three-game winning streak, and although they’ve had their defensive mishaps at times, Price has been incredible. Montreal now has a chance to get to a place where no one thought they’d even be able to sniff: a playoff spot.
To do that, the Habs will have to get through the Detroit Red Wings. Unfortunately, it will be without Shea Weber for the sixth time and Jonathan Drouin.
The story with Drouin was a little funky. The 23-year-old wasn’t on the plan with the team last night to Detroit, and no one seemed to know why.
Jonathan Drouin did not fly to Detroit with the Canadiens. Don't have any more information. He was in the room after the game, and did full media avail.
— Eric Engels (@EricEngels) November 30, 2017
Later on, the Montreal Canadiens Twitter account announced that it would be a lower-body injury that will keep Drouin off the ice for this game.
Update: Jonathan Drouin did not make the trip to Detroit with the team last night for medical reasons (lower-body injury - day-to-day).
— Canadiens Montréal (@CanadiensMTL) November 30, 2017
It has to be a minor tweak considering he didn’t look inhibiting for the rest of the game, but who knows.
It’ll be interesting to see what Claude Julien does with the lineup in his absence. The last time Drouin was injured Torrey Mitchell took his place, but he’s no longer with the team. Fortunately, Byron Froese has experience playing center in the NHL. However, that still doesn’t solve anything.
Does Julien move Alex Galchenyuk to the middle? It would be surprising if he did, but he may be out of options.