Caufield left Monday's game with an upper-body injury and will not return.
Montreal Canadiens News
Alexandre Carrier is week-to-week with an upper-body injury.
Carrier left the Predators' previous game vs. Ottawa after only 7:20 TOI and is now week-to-week with an upper-body injury. The 26-year-old has one goal, 26 SOG and eight PIMs through 23 games prior to the injury.
Matheson (undisclosed) will not play Saturday vs. the Kings.
Line Change
Lindstrom (undisclosed) will be back in the Red Wings lineup on Thursday.
Gallagher (lower-body) will miss at least two weeks.
Gallagher will miss his third straight game with a lower-body injury on Monday and is expected to miss at least two weeks. Juraj Slafkovsky will continue to play a larger role while Gallagher is out.
Savard (upper-body) will not play Monday in Vancouver.
With Savard unavailable for Monday's game in Vancouver, either Chris Wideman or Jordan Harris will draw into the Canadiens' lineup. Consider him questionable for tomorrow's game in Seattle as well.
Goalie Start
Montembeault will start Monday in Vancouver.
Laine (ankle) will be back in the Blue Jackets lineup on Friday.
Laine missed the last seven games with an ankle injury but will play Friday against the Jets. Laine has been in and out of the lineup this season, scoring just two goals and two assists (four points) in eight games.
Brandan Gallagher is considered day-to-day with a lower-body injury and will miss Thursday's game.
Gallagher will need to be reevaluated after it was announced he would miss Thursday's game due to a lower-body injury. The 30-year-old has three goals, five assists and 51 SOG through his first 22 games prior to the injury.
Line Change
Arber Xhekaj is back in the Canadiens' lineup vs. Calgary.
Xhekaj missed Montreal's last game as a healthy scratch but will draw back into the lineup Thursday vs. Calgary. The rookie has had a strong start to his career, with three goals, three assists, 36 SOG and a league-leading 47 PIMs through 20 games prior to his scratching.
Patrik Laine has been activated from the injured reserve (ankle)
Laine has missed the Blue Jackets' previous seven games due to an ankle injury but is expected to return to the lineup Friday after he was activated from the injured reserve. The 24-year-old has two goals, two assists, 29 SOG and a -4 plus/minus through eight injury-riddled games so far this season.
Line Change
Arber Xhekaj will be a healthy scratch Tuesday vs. San Jose.
Xhekaj will head to the press box for the second time this season Tuesday as Montreal takes on San Jose. The rookie has had a strong start to his career, with three goals, three assists, 36 SOG and a league-leading 47 PIMs through 20 games prior to his scratching.
Alex Barre-Boulet has been reassigned to the Syracuse Crunch (AHL).
Barre-Boulet played 10:01 and has one SOG in his only game with Tampa Bay prior to being assigned to the minor leagues. He will head back to Syracuse (AHL) where he holds the current lead among all AHL skaters in scoring after putting up 24 points (4G/20A) in 16 games.
Goalie Start
Montembeault will start Friday in Chicago.
Montembeault was excellent in his previous start, stopping 30 of 31 shots (.968 SV%) as he helped Montreal top Columbus. The Canadiens' backup has been strong all season, posting a 4-2-1 record with a .922 SV% and 2.57 GAA. He will take on the struggling Chicago Blackhawks who have lost five straight games.
Alex Barre-Boulet will make his season debut Friday vs. St.Louis.
Barre-Boulet earned his call-up as he holds the current lead among all AHL skaters in scoring after putting up 24 points (4G/20A) in 16 games with Syracuse (AHL). The 25-year-old has previously played in 31 NHL games, scoring six goals and nine points.
Line Change
Arber Xhakaj will draw back into the Canadiens' lineup Wednesday vs. Columbus.
Xhakaj was a healthy scratch Tuesday but will be back in Montreal's lineup Wednesday vs. Columbus. Through 18 games he has made a strong impact with two goals and three assists along with a league-leading 45 PIMs while averaging only 15:53 TOI
Goalie Start
Samuel Montembeault will start Wednesday vs. Columbus
Montembeault allowed five goals on 28 shots (.821 SV%) losing his previous start vs. Columbus. The Canadiens' backup netminder has been solid with a 3-2-1 record, 2.83 GAA and .915 SV%. He takes on the Blue Jackets who beat Florida their last time out and have the 31st-best powerplay with their 14.0% conversion rate.
Line Change
Arber Xhekaj will be a healthy scratch Tuesday vs. Buffalo.
Xhekaj will head to the press box as a healthy scratch for the first time this season on Tuesday. Through 18 games he has made a strong impact with two goals and three assists along with a league-leading 45 PIMs while averaging only 15:53 TOI.
Matheson (abdomen) will make his Canadiens debut on Saturday.
Matheson missed the first 17 games of the season but will play Saturday vs. the Flyers. Matheson had 11 goals and 20 assists (31 points) in 74 games with the Penguins last season. He was acquired for Jeff Petry and Ryan Peopling in July.
Patrik Laine has been placed on the injured reserve (ankle).
Laine was placed on the injured reserve retroactively to Nov.12th after he suffered a sprained ankle in last Saturday’s game at the NY Islanders and is expected to miss 3-to-4 weeks. It is a tough break for Laine who already missed six games due to an injury earlier this season. Through eight games so far in 2022-23, Laine had struggled to find his footing with two goals and four points along with 29 SOG in eight games this season.