As he has been accustomed to doing in his lineup for several games due to the numerous injuries he has suffered, Montreal Canadiens head coach Martin St-Louis used a formation of 11 attackers and seven defenders in Thursday’s practice session.
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No fewer than eight defensemen trained at the Bell Center ahead of the evening’s scheduled meeting against the Florida Panthers. Arber Xhekaj and Chris Wideman appeared to be the extra full-backs on the right.
On offense, Jesse Ylonen was promoted to the front row alongside Cole Caufield and Nick Suzuki. The latter’s usual partner, Kirby Dach, piloted the third unit, accompanied by Michael Pezzetta and Evgenii Dadonov. Rem Pitlick and Rafaël Harvey-Pinard formed a fourth trio cut off from the left wing.
The CH stated that goalkeeper Jake Allen had trained with coach Éric Raymond long before the rest of the group. The New Brunswicker is expected to spend another week on the sidelines with an upper-body injury. Quebec’s Samuel Montembeault has been the man of confidence between the posts for the past five games.
St-Louis was due to speak at a press conference today.
Canadian units in training
Cole Caufield-Nick Suzuki-Jesse Ylonen
Mike Hoffman-Christian Dvorak-Josh Anderson
Michael Pezzetta – Kirby Dach – Evgenii Dadonov
Rem Pitlick – Rafael Harvey-Pinard
Joel EdmundsonJustin Barron
Mike Matheson-David Savard
Jordan Harris-Johnathan Kovacevic
Arber Xhekaj
Chris Weitman
Samuel Montembault
Cayden Primeau