The Montreal Canadiens announced on Friday that winger Brendan Gallagher will be out at least eight weeks after having surgery on his fractured left hand.

Gallagher suffered the injury on Wednesday night after taking a shot from teammate Shea Weber in the third period of their 4-3 overtime win over the Dallas Stars.

Gallagher, who has six goals and 18 points in 39 games this season, fractured two fingers in his same hand last year after blocking a shot in a game against the New York Islanders and missed 17 games.

Gallagher's absence leaves the Habs without seven regulars in their lineup, including winger Paul Byron, who suffered an upper body injury in Wednesday's game in Dallas. The team is also missing forwards David Desharnais and Andrew Shaw along with defenceman Greg Pateryn. Centre Alex Galchenyuk and defenceman Andrei Markov joined the team at practice on Friday wearing non-contact jerseys.   

The team called up forwards Sven Andrighetto and Nikita Scherbak on Thursday, with both expected to be in the lineup Saturday when the Canadiens face the Toronto Maple Leafs. 

Hickey: Habs will stay the course

The Montreal Gazette's Pat Hickey joins Chris Nilan and Dave Trentadue to talk Habs injuries & more.