The Montreal Canadiens traveled back to Quebec yesterday after a thrashing at the hands of the Minnesota Wild.
Their 8-2 loss on Monday night was the ugliest in a long list of bad games during the first half of the 2021-22 season.
That game was the second consecutive one that left winger Jonathan Drouin missed. He left the game Thursday night in Vegas early but there was not much said about why he left or why he missed the Saturday night game in Colorado or the Monday game with the Wild.
The team announced today that Drouin is out with an upper body injury and will be out indefinitely. He is still being monitored by the team’s medical staff which suggests they aren’t quite sure how significant the injury is yet.
That is interesting because the injury was sustained six days ago, so you would think the team had some kind of an update on a timeline by now.
With all of the injuries and illnesses and absences the team has dealt with this season, you would hope this is not yet another significant one the team needs to deal with. They have used so many different players, the Laval Rocket barely had anyone to skate at practice for a while.
Drouin has scored six goals and 20 points in 32 games this season. The 26 year old has one more year left on his contract after this season.
The Canadiens next play tomorrow night against the Anaheim Ducks. The game will take place at the Bell Centre in Montreal but there will be no fans in attendance. The same restrictions will be in place when the Canadiens host the Edmonton Oilers on Saturday night and the Columbus Blue Jackets on Sunday.