The Montreal Canadiens had positives coming out of their first preseason game and victory of the year but lost Nicolas Deslaurier to an upper-body injury.
Hockey is back for the Montreal Canadiens and the rest of the NHL. The Habs started their preseason off on the right foot Monday night defeating the New Jersey Devils 3-1. It was an exciting finish to a game that had little going the Habs way early on. They got their chances but weren’t able to capitalize on them, very reminiscent of the script from last season.
The team didn’t give up though continuing to push the pace. And when the Devils began to push, Nicolas Deslauriers pushed back. The 27-year-old hasn’t been talked about much among Habs forwards fighting for a roster spot in the bottom six. He made a statement last year scoring ten (10) goals, but it would take a strong performance at camp crack the lineup with the likes of Matthew Peca, Charles Hudon, and Jacob de La Rose in the hunt as well.
This preseason had the potential of being a good determinant for Deslauriers. He was playing his role on the Jesperi Kotkaniemi line very well. Deslauriers was getting in hard on the forecheck and creating space for his other linemates. He also did a good job trying to keep the flies off of Kotkaniemi when the Devils attempted to rough him up more than they should.
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In an attempt to establish himself in the lineup, New Jersey rookie Brandon Baddock went to Deslauriers with a challenge, and it was accepted. Deslauriers clearly won the fight, but he also took a hit to the cheek in the process despite staying on his skates. He went straight to the dressing room, which at first didn’t trigger any cause for concern as it was at the start of the period.
But something was up when Deslauriers wasn’t on the bench to start the second. It was later revealed that he wouldn’t be returning to the ice and Claude Julien confirmed after the game that he was transported to the hospital receiving medical attention for an upper-body injury.
During his postgame press conference, head coach Claude Julien confirmed that Nicolas Deslauriers was taken to hospital for precautionary reasons and to undergo further medical examination.
— Canadiens Montréal (@CanadiensMTL) September 18, 2018
At first, I thought he might have cut his hand or something along those lines in the fight. But remembering the punch he took in the cheek may point towards a concussion or at least a suspected one.
Whatever the final result is, Montreal Canadiens fans are sending positive thoughts towards Deslauriers. It’s unfortunate this had to happen at a time where he was fighting for a spot, but that’s the nature of the game sometimes.