The Canadiens have had to report yet another injury after Tanner Pearson left Saturday night’s contest versus the Sabres with an injury. Pearson had just 2:50 of ice-time in the Canadiens 3-2 shootout victory. He did not play in the Canadiens game on Sunday night versus the Predators.
Sounds like David Savard has a fracture on his hand but it won’t require surgery. He’s expected to be out for 6 weeks.
— /r/Habs (@HabsOnReddit) October 25, 2023
The Habs will post an official injury update after the game tonight. https://t.co/cVokXjdLNB
Following the game, the Canadiens provided an update on Pearson, saying that he will miss the next four to six weeks with an upper-body injury. The injury came after Pearson blocked a shot, so while we don’t have any specifics regarding the injury, it wouldn’t be far-fetched to suggest something broke.
That’s what happened to David Savard the last time the Canadiens played in Buffalo. Everyone remembers the sequence where he blocked three shots and lost his skate blade, but he also fractured his hand on the play. Savard returned to the lineup for the first time since that play against Nashville on Sunday.
Pearson got off to a hot start on the year with five points in his first five games with the Canadiens but had just three in his next 22. Still, with so many other injuries, losing him is a big blow. Michael Pezzetta drew into the lineup on Sunday, but we’ll see if the Canadiens decide to call anyone up from Laval in the coming days.
This is, unfortunately, nothing new for Habs fans, having watched their team lead the league injuries in each of the last two seasons. They seem primed to do it again in 2023-24. You can only wonder what a guy like Nick Suzuki, who has yet to miss a game in his career, is thinking as he watches everyone around him get hurt for the third consecutive year. It’s got to be frustrating.
The Canadiens hired a brand-new medical staff this year with the hopes of avoiding exactly this, but here we are. Dread it, run from it, the injury bug arrives all the same. For whatever reason, the Canadiens just cannot catch a break here, and I’ve reached the point where I’ve stopped hoping for mercy. It’s not coming.