The Habs will be without a pair of players for tonight’s game against Colorado at least and perhaps a little longer as the team announced that Brendan Gallagher and Sami Niku have been placed in COVID protocol.
Both players have tested positive although are currently asymptomatic according to head coach Dominique Ducharme. Both will be tested later today and tomorrow and if those come back negative, they’ll be cleared to return. Otherwise, they’ll miss at least ten days while cross-border restrictions are in place for two weeks.
Both players are eligible to be designated as non-roster, giving the team some flexibility in terms of adding people to the roster. Mathieu Perreault and Brett Kulak have been activated off IR and will play against the Avalanche while Chris Wideman – who wasn’t on IR but missed the last two games – will also return, taking Mattias Norlinder’s spot. As a result, Montreal won’t need to bring anyone up from Laval. Montreal’s projected lineup for tonight is now as follows:
Toffoli – Dvorak – Anderson
Lehkonen- Suzuki – Evans
Drouin – Poehling – Armia
Pezzetta – Perreault – Caufield
Chiarot – Savard
Kulak – Petry
Romanov – Wideman