Renaud Lavoie just reported that Josh Anderson has been placed on IR, with three more Canadiens staying home from the New York trip.
Montreal plays at the Rangers on Monday, and the travel party looks a lot thinner than it did a few days ago. The Canadiens are coming off a 4-1 loss to the Avalanche on Saturday night, so they leave town with a sour taste and a short bench.
Lavoie noted that Mike Matheson, Samuel Montembeault and Ivan Demidov will not make the trip either.
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The post doesn't say why Anderson went on IR. What it does show is a forward who was producing: 8 goals and 12 points in 19 games this season, in a bottom-of-the-lineup role. He played 10:46 against Colorado on Saturday.
Losing that kind of secondary scoring hurts a team that managed one goal in its last outing. Nick Suzuki got it, and Montreal's other forwards were held off the board.
The other three absences were mostly expected. Demidov is listed on IR with an ankle injury and an estimated return of Nov. 21 at the earliest. We covered Ivan Demidov's travel status for New York earlier today, when Martin St-Louis said he wasn't sure the 20-year-old would make the trip.
Montembeault is listed on IR with a lower-body injury, with an estimated return of Nov. 16 at the earliest. Matheson is day-to-day, also with a lower-body issue, according to the latest injury report.
How thin are the Canadiens on the blue line and in goal?
Thin enough to matter. Matheson has 5 points in 9 games from the back end, and the defense loses its most productive voice if he sits Monday.
In goal, Jakub Dobes started Saturday and stopped 23 of 26 shots. With Montembeault out of the picture for now, the Canadiens' crease situation for Monday is unsettled, and the team hasn't named a starter.
Montreal still sits second in the Atlantic Division at 12-4-4, and the road record is the one thing worth protecting: 7-1-1 away from home. Madison Square Garden with four names missing is a real test of that number, and it's a stretch of the schedule Kent Hughes is sure to be watching closely.
The Canadiens drop the puck in New York on Monday, and further roster word could come before then.
This article was written with the help of artificial intelligence, based on public reports and official sources.
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