Canadiens centre Nick Suzuki controls play against San Jose Sharks in Montreal on Tuesday.
Canadiens centre Nick Suzuki controls play against San Jose Sharks in Montreal on Tuesday.
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The Canadiens delivered bad news Thursday morning, announcing that captain Nick Suzuki will be sidelined for two to four weeks with an upper-body injury.
Suzuki had never missed a game in his eight seasons in the NHL with the Canadiens. His ironman streak of playing in 546 consecutive games will come to an end. Suzuki ranked second on the active NHL ironman list behind Colorado Avalanche defenceman Brent Burns, who has played 1,017 consecutive games.
Canadiens centre Nick Suzuki controls play against San Jose Sharks in Montreal on Tuesday.
Canadiens centre Nick Suzuki controls play against San Jose Sharks in Montreal on Tuesday.
If Suzuki is out for two weeks, he will miss seven games. If he's out for four weeks, the captain will miss 10 games.
Suzuki blocked a shot with his left hand late in the third period of Tuesday night's 4-3 overtime loss to the San Jose Sharks at the Bell Centre and wasn't available for post-game interviews because he was receiving treatment.
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The loss of Suzuki will be a huge blow to the Canadiens, who have a 4-3-2 record to start the season. Suzuki was leading the team in scoring with 5-7-12 totals in nine games. He also led the team in scoring last season with 29-72-101 totals and won the Selke Trophy as the NHL's top defensive forward. Suzuki became the first Canadien to hit the 100-point mark in a season since Mats Naslund had 43-67-110 totals in 1985-86 and the first to win the Selke Trophy since Guy Carbonneau in 1991-92.
The Canadiens are still without forward Ivan Demidov, who has yet to play a game this season because of a lower-body injury. He was seen after Tuesday night's game still wearing a plastic walking-boot cast on his right foot.
Juraj Slafkovsky left practice early Thursday after taking a shot from Cole Caufield off his left cheek after it hit his visor. Slafkovsky said after practice that he's fine, but he might end up with a black eye.
For the first time since becoming head coach of the Canadiens four years ago, St. Louis won't have Suzuki in his lineup.
The Canadiens announced Thursday morning that forward Owen Beck has been recalled from the Laval Rocket a day after being sent down to the AHL.
“I think staying healthy throughout a season, it’s a little bit of an art,” St. Louis has said in the past. “It’s balancing everything and still doing your job. Taking care of yourself off the ice, getting in the gym a little bit. But also preventing … when you feel like something’s coming, taking care of it right away so that it doesn’t get worse.
“Luck is part of it, there’s no doubt about it,” St. Louis added. “But I think staying healthy for 82 games is a little bit of an art.”
The Canadiens practised without Suzuki Thursday morning in Brossard before flying to Chicago, where they will play the Blackhawks Friday (8 p.m., TSN2, RDS) in the first game of a four-game road trip. Demidov did not make the trip with his teammates.
Oliver Kapanen replaced Suzuki at centre on the No. 1 line between Caufield and Slafkovsky at practice. Kapanen also replaced Suzuki on the No. 1 power-play unit.
Defenceman Mike Matheson, who has missed the last four games with a lower-body injury, practised with his teammates Thursday and so did forward Florian Xhekaj, who has missed the last five games with a lower-body injury.
After Friday’s game, the Canadiens will head to Winnipeg for the outdoor Heritage Classic game on Sunday (7 p.m., SN, TVA Sports). After that, the Canadiens will visit the St. Louis Blues next Tuesday (8 p.m., TSN2, RDS) and the Dallas Stars next Thursday (8 p.m., TSN2, RDS).
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