Jonathan Drouin will not face the New York Islanders on Thursday night, Canadiens head coach Dominique Ducharme confirmed.
The Quebecer was hit by a puck to the head in the first period of Tuesday’s clash against the Detroit Red Wings. He immediately left the meeting and went to the hospital. The organization assures that he did not suffer a concussion, but did not provide additional details on the nature of his injury. Ducharme spoke of a “contusion” [bruise] and claimed that his player was “not 100%”.
Drouin still took part in the morning training of his club, in the center of Mike Hoffman and Josh Anderson.
To make up for his absence, Adam Brooks will be included in the training. Ducharme warned that he would not replace Drouin on his trio. However, it looks like, based on practice, he’ll be used on the power play.
Defender Alexander Romanov will return to the game after being struck out against the Red Wings on Tuesday. He trained to the left of Chris Wideman. Sami Niku will be left out.