Nick Cousins will not travel to Buffalo with a back injury

The Montreal Canadiens have announced that forward Nick Cousins will not travel to Buffalo for their game against the Sabres on Wednesday.

Cousins left practice on Monday with what was suspected as a lower-body injury. He missed practice on Tuesday — as did Shea Weber, for rest — and it was confirmed that he will not travel to Buffalo.

The Cousins injury leaves Montreal with 12 forwards going to Buffalo. If they do not put him on IR, which will require him to be out for a week, the team cannot call up a forward from the Laval Rocket.

Alex Belzile and Jake Evans would be among the forwards most likely to be recalled if the team makes room. The team has eight defenceman in camp with Mike Reilly and Christian Folin as the extra bodies in practice.

The team has not made any line changes from how they started the first two games of the season.