Montreal Canadiens place Shea Weber on IR, recall Xavier Ouellet, Jake Evans from Laval

The Montreal Canadiens have placed captain Shea Weber on injured reserve with a lower-body injury, meaning he will be out at least one week.

Weber blocked a shot late in the third period in Tuesday’s game against the New Jersey Devils and did not practice on Wednesday with what the team called a therapy day.

As a result, the Canadiens have recalled defenceman Xavier Ouellet and Jake Evans from the Laval Rocket ahead of their game against the Anaheim Ducks at the Bell Centre on Thursday.

Ouellet is coming off of a one goal, three assist night in Laval on Wednesday where he scored the overtime winner. He has nine goals and 15 assists in 39 AHL games this season. He was injured when the Canadiens called up Gustav Olofsson and Otto Leskinen earlier in the season.

Last year, the Rocket captain had three assists in 19 NHL games with Montreal.

Evans, for his part had a goal and two assists in the win against Utica, and this is his first NHL recall. He has 12 goals and 22 assists for 34 points in 48 AHL games this season.

The Canadiens have battled a flu bug with Victor Mete missing the team’s last game against the Devils. Ouellet’s call up likely means that someone may be missing tonight’s game. Ryan Poehling also missed practice with the flu. He and Tomas Tatar are game-time decisions. Mete is expected to play.

The Rocket’s next game is on Saturday when they start a five-game road trip in Belleville.