The Montreal Canadiens will be without one of their star forwards ahead of Game 3 from the Bell Centre. Just minutes before Friday’s Game 3 of their Eastern Conference first-round 2025 NHL Stanley Cup Playoff contest, winger Patrik Laine was ruled out of action due to an upper-body injury. It does not sound long-term, but any sort of injury this time of year could be causing more underlying problems than at first obvious.
#GoHabsGo say Patrik Laine has an upper-body injury and “will be evaluated on a daily basis.”
— Frank Seravalli (@frank_seravalli) April 25, 2025
Patrik Laine Injury News for the Montreal Canadiens
Laine has been an efficient goal scorer, really his whole career. However, volume wins out over efficiency every time. In 532 career NHL regular season games, Laine has 224 goals, on a 14.9 shooting percentage. This season has been difficult after an exhibition game injury had him out until December. He’s still managed 20 goals and 52 total games. In contrast, his average ice time ended up well off his career average. Normally a plus-17 minute a night player, he was down to 14:18 on a young, speedy Montreal forward group.
What Does this Patrik Laine Injury Mean for Montreal?
Otherwise the Habs are fairly healthy. Kirby Dach is the one exception but he has missed a good chunk of the campaign. The addition of Ivan Demidov is a huge boost to that cause. Therefore, their current top-six alignment, has fans, in general, fairly confident. Without Laine won’t help, but the Habs are built to not depend on any one player too much. Led by centre Nick Suzuki up front, they are a versatile forward group.
Who’s In
The regular season injury was a damper, fans were optimistic when Patrik Laine came over in the offseason. He brings the type of high-end talent teams need to be successful regular season and playoff competitors. It sounds like Oliver Kapanen draws in tonight. He played primarily in Sweden this season, at nearly a point-per-game pace. In the NHL, he had two points through 18 contests. It could be his big opportunity tonight. Especially if the Habs can make it a series tonight versus the Washington Capitals. Catch the game on TV tonight on Sportsnet and TVA Sports.
Main Photo Credit: David Kirouac-Imagn Images
The post Montreal Canadiens Big Name Forward has Upper-Body Injury and Ruled Out Tonight appeared first on Last Word On Hockey.