Montreal Canadiens winger Brendan Gallagher was injured after inadvertently blocking teammate Alexander Romanov‘s shot with his hand in Monday’s game. He left the game against the Edmonton Oilers and did not return. According to head coach Dominique Ducharme, he will be out for weeks.
Dominique Ducharme says Brendan Gallagher has a fractured thumb. Out weeks.
— Eric Engels (@EricEngels) April 6, 2021
UPDATE: The team has officially moved him to LTIR, announcing he’ll miss at least six weeks.
Montreal Canadiens place forward Brendan Gallagher on LTIR (fractured thumb) and he will be out at least six weeks: https://t.co/0GSywwBRV9#TSNHockey pic.twitter.com/BVYxdO1FXL
— TSN Hockey (@TSNHockey) April 7, 2021
Brendan Gallagher Injured, Will Miss Time
Gallagher has been a mainstay of the Canadiens forwards since his rookie season in 2012-13. This season, he’s played all 34 games for Montreal, earning 23 points in the form of 14 goals and nine assists. He has 16 minutes in penalties and averages over 15 minutes per game. His Corsi for is 59.3 percent, with a relative Corsi of 5.2. Over his nine-year tenure in the red and blue, Gallager has played 581 games, with 357 points, divided between 187 goals and 170 assists. His overall Corsi is 56.2 percent, and an overall relative Corsi of 6.1. He’s averaged exactly 16 minutes of ice time per game over his career.
Moving Forward for the Canadiens
Losing Gallagher is a significant blow to the Canadiens offence. Even so, they sit at eighth in goals for per game with 3.24 and are third in shots per game with 33.4. However, Gallagher leads the Canadiens in shots with 105 and is fourth in shooting percentage. An obvious and important piece of the goal-scoring in Montreal, having Gallagher on the ice is crucial for the Canadiens’ success. He’s played the majority of every season since his rookie year, so having him hurt is bad news. Brendan Gallagher has broken his hand twice in the past, so another injury to the area is concerning.
The Canadiens added Eric Staal recently and have a number of extra forwards on the taxi squad including Jake Evans and Michal Frolik. Joel Armia is also on the Covid list but expected back soon. The Habs have plenty of depth up front, but obviously losing Gallagher will hurt as none of that depth quite replaces everything he does for the team.
Currently fighting for their playoff lives in the North Division, the Canadiens play the Toronto Maple Leafs on Wednesday.
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