Canadiens To Be Shorthanded Against Panthers

The Montreal Canadiens will only be playing 11 forwards and five defensemen for Saturday afternoon's contest against the Florida Panthers. Brendan Gallagher has been ruled out due to injury, while Alexander Romanov and Jake Evans have entered COVID-19 protocol. 

Before this news, the Panthers were already heavily favored for this game. It's easy to understand why, as they currently have a 20-7-4 record, while the Canadiens are 7-22-4. Yet, with this, the odds are even worse for Montreal. Keep in mind, they already have a lot of other players in protocol, too.

The Canadiens now only have players from their opening night roster dressed for the game. With that, only Nick Suzuki, Cole Caufield and Brett Kulak are from last season's Stanley Cup Final team. These facts were brought to us by Eric Engels.

The Canadiens have five players from their opening-night roster dressed for today's game.

— Eric Engels (@EricEngels) January 1, 2022

The Canadiens have three players who played in Game 5 of the Cup Final playing in today's game. Suzuki, Caufield and Kulak. https://t.co/dajbG0RsrJ

— Eric Engels (@EricEngels) January 1, 2022

The game also has not been cancelled, so this could be a rather intriguing one to see. If Montreal ends up winning, they deserve a lot of praise. 

Photo Credit: © Timothy T. Ludwig-USA TODAY Sports