Montreal Canadiens centre Christian Dvorak is out for the season with a torn pectoral muscle, the team announced Thursday.
The Canadiens say he will undergo surgery on Friday.
“His left-handed faceoffs, he’s a guy who plays on the penalty kill, he’s capable of playing on the power play, he does a bit of everything,” head coach Martin St. Louis said of what the Canadiens will need to replace. “D-vo is a guy who does more than one thing, we need to replace that collectively.”
With Dvorak out, the Canadiens have Nick Suzuki, Sean Monahan, Jake Evans and Mitchell Stephens playing down the middle.
Dvorak last played Dec. 30 in a 4-1 loss to the Florida Panthers. The 27-year-old American had three goals and four assists in 25 games this season.
It’s the second consecutive season that ends early for Dvorak after he played 64 games in 2022-23 before undergoing season-ending knee surgery. He also missed the first 10 games of this season.
Dvorak joins fellow Canadiens centre Kirby Dach on the injured list for the remainder of the campaign. Dach sustained a knee injury against the Chicago Blackhawks in the second game of the season.
Montreal received some positive injury news as forward Josh Anderson skated Thursday morning after leaving Tuesday’s 4-3 win over the Dallas Stars.
Anderson needed help getting to the dressing room after his right knee collided with Stars defenceman Thomas Harley midway through the third period.
The 29-year-old Anderson, who started the season by going goalless through his first 24 games, has five goals in his last eight outings.
He said he would play Thursday night, when the Canadiens were scheduled to host the Buffalo Sabres.
“I think he’s playing with confidence, his touches are better,” St. Louis said. “I think he’s in a good place mentally, and I think you can see it with his decisions on the ice, there’s no hesitation.”
The Canadiens also announced that winger Rafael Harvey-Pinard, who’s out with a lower-body injury for eight weeks as of Nov. 21, is on schedule in his recovery.
Forward Tanner Pearson, out four to six weeks as of Dec. 11, is also making progress.
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