Montreal Canadiens centre Alex Galchenyuk is set to return to the lineup after missing three games with a knee injury.
The Canadiens finally have a (nearly) healthy lineup. Brendan Gallagher is the only player who is still recovering from a broken right hand. But, he is due back soon.
The Canadiens injury problems began in early December when Galchenyuk and David Desharnais went down with knee injuries. Then, Greg Pateryn with an ankle injury, followed by Andrei Markov with a groin injury. After, Andrew Shaw sustained a concussion and Brendan Gallagher broke his hand. The Canadiens injury woes have finally come to and end, for now.
Desharnais, Markov and Pateryn all returned to the lineup on Monday against the Buffalo Sabres. Shaw returned on January 14 against the New York Rangers. Markov returned from a 19-game absence, and Desharnais came back after missing 24 games respectively. Despite all the injuries, the Canadiens remain atop the Atlantic Division, going 12-8-4 since December 12.
“The last two months was pretty rough health-wise, but we were still able to maintain our quality of play,” Coach Michel Therrien told reporters.
On December 4th, Galchenyuk collided with Los Angeles Kings Anze Kopitar, causing the original knee injury. He returned on January 14th against the New York Rangers. He scored in his first game back. But, he went down again just a week later on January 21st after re-injured the same knee against the Sabres. Alex Galchenyuk has 27 points in just 30 games this season.
“There’s nothing you can do about it,” Galchenyuk said. “Stuff like that happens. You’ve got to stay positive and do the right thing and make sure you work hard at getting back at it, which I did. Now I’m ready to go.”
Galchenyuk will centre the Canadiens second line between Desharnais and Shaw when they take on the Philadelphia Flyers.
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