The Canadiens have placed Samuel Montembeault and Oliver Kapanen on injured reserve, according to PuckPedia, a day after Saturday's shootout win over Detroit.
Montembeault was already expected to be out until at least Oct 20 with a lower-body injury.
The 29-year-old was in line to start before he left practice Wednesday.
The club didn't specify how long Kapanen will be out, and that file remains murky.
Montembeault carries a $3,150,000 cap hit, more than three times what Jacob Fowler costs, and Marqueur notes he's set for free agency in less than a year.
Coming back from this is like returning from vacation to find the new hire sitting at your desk. Nobody fired you, but your chair is definitely taken.
Fowler has earned the net for now. A 30-save shutout through overtime against Detroit is exactly how a young goalie takes a job.
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Montreal Canadiens announce concerning injury update on Samuel Montembeault and Oliver Kapanen
The 21-year-old picked up the shootout win Saturday and now sits at a .938 save percentage.
Jakub Dobes, by comparison, is at .856 through three appearances.
For the next few weeks at least, those two figure to split the work unless Kent Hughes makes a move.
Kapanen's absence matters up front, too. When he returns, does he reclaim the second-line center spot, or does Alex Newhook keep it?
Newhook has 2 points on a $2,900,000 cap hit, with a -3 rating that leaves the door open.
Florian Xhekaj is also listed out until at least Oct 13, and Ivan Demidov is on IR until at least Oct 31.
The Canadiens are 2-2-1 after snapping a three-game winless run against the Red Wings.
Montreal hosts Buffalo on Tuesday, visits Washington on Wednesday and gets Buffalo again on Saturday.
That's three games in five days, the kind of stretch where a hot young goalie either cements a job or cools off.
Martin St-Louis has a lot of decisions coming. The biggest one might be who gets the net when Montembeault is finally healthy.
Has Samuel Montembeault lost his job to Jacob Fowler?
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