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In the Habs second to last home game of the season, Christian Dvorak will be back in the line-up. The centerman played his last game on the 30th of December against the Panthers. The forward had a torn pectoral muscle which required surgery and it was thought his season was over. In the end, he’ll be able to take part in the last five games of the season.
News is not as good for Arber Xhekaj, the gritty defenseman sustained a shoulder injury requiring an operation. Xhekaj will head to Vail in Colorado to have left shoulder surgery. It will be performed by Dr. Peter Millett who also performed the surgery on his right shoulder and operated on both Josh Anderson and Cole Caufield. According to St.Louis' it wasn't one event that led to the decision, but wear and tear so the speak.
Speaking of Caufield, he’s expressed interest in representing the USA at the World Championships, and providing he stays healthy, he’ll be allowed to do so. It would probably be a great opportunity for him to get some confidence back after struggling a bit to find the back of the net this season. Sure, he’s a more complete player who now has options on the ice. The defense can’t assume he’ll be shooting all the time as he’s been passing the puck a lot as well. The bottom line is though, Caufield is a sniper and on a team struggling to get some scoring, he needs to turn it up a notch.
This just in, Arber Xhekaj may be done for the season, but the Canadiens were not "Xhekajless" for long. Less than a year after drafting him in the fourth round of the 2023 NHL entry draft (101 overall) the Canadiens have signed Florian Xhekaj to a three-year entry-level contract. The 19-year-old forward is now headed to Cleveland to join the Rocket. He's signed a professional tryout offer which allows him to play with Laval for the rest of the season. For now, that means four regular season games, two against the Cleveland Monsters and two against the Belleville Senators. The Rocket is involved in the playoffs' race but things do not look so good right now since the other teams all have games in hand. Xhekaj's entry-level contract starts next season and ends after the 2026-2027 season.
Tonight’s visitors at the Bell Centre are the Philadelphia Flyers who were in town back on March 28 and looked like ghosts on the ice in a 4-1 loss, a spectacle that head coach John Tortorella did not like. It will be interesting to see how his team responds tonight. Samuel Montembeault will be back in the net tonight and will be trying to bounce back from his last outing when he gave four goals on 12 shots to the Leafs.
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