Canadiens’ Kaiden Guhle sustained lower-body injury vs. Jets
The Montreal Canadiens announced that defenseman Kaiden Guhle sustained a lower-body injury during Tuesday’s 4-1 loss to the Winnipeg Jets.
Le défenseur Kaiden Guhle a subi une blessure au bas du corps, qui nécessitera une évaluation approfondie.
Defenseman Kaiden Guhle sustained a lower-body injury and will need further evaluation.
Guhle sustained the injury early in the third period of the game after taking an awkward spill into the boards when making a pinch in the offensive zone, appearing to injure his right leg. He couldn’t put any pressure on it, and needed help getting to the locker room.
Guhle left the game with four hits in 18:29 of ice time in the loss.
The Canadiens confirmed the injury shortly after the game, also indicating that Guhle will need further evaluation before we know the severity of the injury and how long he will be out of the lineup for it. Montreal doesn’t play their next game until Thursday against the Minnesota Wild, which is also at home, so we will likely get an update either if they practice on Wednesday or during the morning skate on Thursday.
With Guhle getting hurt late enough in the game, he didn’t see his spot on the second pair alongside Lane Hutson be replaced so much as the Canadiens rotated their other four defenseman with Hutson.
Guhle’s injury will be a big blow to the Canadiens lineup should he miss significant time, as he has had an excellent season with 4 goals and 10 assists for 14 points in 45 games. That puts him on pace for 25 points in 82 games, which would be a career-high for him in points.
Guhle has also been one of the Canadiens’ best defensive defensemen, with a regularized adjusted plus-minus of -0.078 expected goals against per 60 minutes that is the second best among Montreal blueliners, according to Evolving Hockey.
Should Guhle miss significant time, the Canadiens have no other defensemen on their NHL roster, and will need to recall someone from their AHL affiliate, the Laval Rocket, before Thursday’s game.
The Canadiens currently sit in seventh in the Atlantic Division with a 24-21-5 record, which is two points behind the Tampa Bay Lightning for the final wild card spot in the Eastern Conference, although the Lightning have a game in hand. Montreal will look to snap their three-game losing streak when they host the Wild on Thursday at 7 p.m. EST.