Montreal Canadiens: Pair Of Defenseman Inching Closer To Return

The Montreal Canadiens, like the previous two seasons, are starting to see injuries pile up. It was just announced Alex Newhook would be out of the lineup for up to three months with a high ankle sprain.

He joins David Savard, Arber Xhekaj, Kirby Dach, Jordan Harris, Rafael Harvey-Pinard and Chris Wideman, not to mention Carey Price, on the injured list. Having four defensemen on that list has forced the team to call up Jayden Struble, Gustav Lindstrom and Mattias Norlinder recently.

While Struble has fit in well, Lindstrom has struggled at times and Norlinder hadn’t played well with the Laval Rocket so he has served as the team’s extra defenseman and healthy scratch for the previous few games. It does seem like the team will get some relief on the blue line in the near future.

Renaud Lavoie of TVA Sports had a couple of updates from Canadiens practice this morning and they were promising updates for defenders.

First, he posted a video of David Savard skating. He was on the ice before his teammates headed out for practice, and is sort of gingerly working through a skating drill. However, he is not supposed to be back until the new year, so it was promising to see him on the ice early in December.

Shortly after Savard skated, the whole team took to the ice for the team’s morning skate before tonight’s game against the Detroit Red Wings. Surprisingly joining them was Arber Xhekaj. He was in a normal jersey, meaning he is able to take contact and participate fully in practice. This would suggest he is very close to returning to action, though he was not joining the team’s line rushes so he is not going to play tonight.

With the team’s defensive structure looking suspect in a couple of recent losses to Florida and Los Angeles, they can use all they help that is available on the blue line. Getting Xhekaj back on the third pairing and soon after getting Savard out there as a veteran presence in the top four should help them steady the ship in their own zone.

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