Montreal Canadiens: Brendan Gallagher, Ben Chiarot Out vs Ottawa Senators

The Montreal Canadiens have been battling injuries for much of the past two months. They will be without Brendan Gallagher and Ben Chiarot once again tonight.

The Montreal Canadiens have been bitten by the injury bug this season. Their forward group, especially the wingers, have been battling for the past two months with injuries. Paul Byron and Jonathan Drouin have been out for eight weeks, Joel Armia has missed several weeks, Jesperi Kotkaniemi and Victor Mete missed time but have since returned.

Brendan Gallagher was also injured with a concussion on New Year’s Eve after falling into teammate Ben Chiarot. Gallagher returned to play the Edmonton Oilers on Thursday night. It was just nine days after he sustained his injury, but apparently Gallagher was ready to return to action. Oddly, he had to wear a tinted visor to practice that morning, but he was ready for the game that night?

Gallagher had a fall in the corner of that game and looked a little sluggish to me after he got up. He played the rest of the game, but he was suffering from headaches once again yesterday, which is a clear sign of a possible concussion.

The team announced this morning that Gallagher won’t be playing tonight, although they can not confirm that his headaches are related to his concussion. They think it may just be a separate virus that he is dealing with as well. Either way, they are remaining cautious and keeping him out tonight. One could quickly argue that they should have kept him out of the Oilers game as well. Why rush him back when you are in yet another tailspin and your season is done in January?

That means they will be without two of their top four left wingers in Drouin and Byron as well as two of their top three right wingers in Gallagher and Armia.

Also, Ben Chiarot who had found a home next to Shea Weber on the Habs top pairing is also out. He missed the game against the Oilers with a lower body injury that was suffered when the team lost to the Detroit Red Wings for the third time this season.

The Canadiens did not have a full practice this morning so it is difficult to guess exactly what the line combinations will be tonight. The fascination with Nick Cousins will likely lead to him being promoted to the first line once again in Gallagher’s absence. Matthew Peca returns from his injury and will be in the lineup in the bottom six.

It is a big game for all the wrong reasons this early in the season. The Canadiens have fallen far from the playoff race and the Senators are one of the few teams behind them in the standings. Ottawa are five points back of Montreal with one less game played and could possibly leapfrog the Habs and give Montreal a better chance at the first overall pick.

It seems too early to be hoping for losses but the Habs are nine points behind the second wild card spot. The Canadiens aren’t going to make the playoffs, so the best thing to do is get in position for the best draft pick possible. Sitting Gallagher for a while will be better for the long-term future as it will ensure more losses and a better draft pick.