Habs lineup notes for October 28: Nikita Scherbak out with injury, Torrey Mitchell appears to be his replacement
An optional skate gave us some clues about tonight’s alignment versus the Rangers.
The Montreal Canadiens didn’t have a full practice ahead of their game with the New York Rangers on Saturday, but rather held an optional skate, with the goalies, rookies, and bubble players taking to the ice with Alex Galchenyuk and Jonathan Drouin.
12 Habs on the ice this morning:
— Canadiens Montréal (@CanadiensMTL) October 28, 2017
Benn
Davidson
De La Rose
Drouin
Galchenyuk
Hudon
McCarron
Mete
Mitchell
Montoya
Morrow
Price#GoHabsGo
The fact that Drouin is participating shouldn’t be too surprising, as he was described by Max Pacioretty as “hockey obsessed” in the off-season.
Daigneault et Muller dirigent l’entraînement optionnel ce matin/Daigneault and Muller are directing this morning's optional skate #GoHabsGo pic.twitter.com/c7X5tXUYG8
— Canadiens Montréal (@CanadiensMTL) October 28, 2017
One notable absence from the group was another rookie. After leaving Thursday’s game with an injury, Nikita Scherbak was unable to participate this morning, and won’t be in the lineup tonight.
Nikita Scherbak va rencontrer le médecin ce soir pour évaluer sa condition. Il n'affrontera pas les Rangers #CH #RDS
— Patrick Friolet (@PFrioletRDS) October 28, 2017
Lines and defence pairings won’t be known until later today, but someone will be re-entering the lineup to replace Scherbak. It seems it will be Torrey Mitchell winning out over Jacob de la Rose in that case.
Jacob De La Rose fait du temps supplémentaire avec Joe Morrow.
— Patrick Friolet (@PFrioletRDS) October 28, 2017
Tout indique que Torrey Mitchell sera de retour dans la formation. #CH #RDS