Ice Chips: Habs loan D Xhekaj to AHL
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Keep updated on all the injury news and roster updates from around the NHL with daily Ice Chips.
Montreal Canadiens
The Montreal Canadiens have activated defenceman Arber Xhekaj from IR and loaned him to the AHL Laval Rocket, the team announced on Monday.
Xhekaj, 22, was placed on injured reserve on Nov. 16 with an upper-body injury and missed the last seven games. In 17 games this season, he has one goal and three points.
The Canadiens are planning to start Sam Montembeault in net for their matchup against the Seattle Kraken on Monday.
Montembeault has a goals against average of 2.73 this season in 10 games, with a 5-3-1 record.
The Canadiens skated the following lines in warmup:
Caufield-Suzuki-Slafkovsky
Evans-Monahan-Anderson
Pearson-Dvorak-Gallagher
Armia-Stephens-Ylönen
Matheson-Lindström
Guhle-Barron
Struble-Kovacevic
Ottawa Senators
Both Brady Tkachuk and Thomas Chabot were absent from practice for the Ottawa Senators on Monday, though Bruce Garrioch reports that it was a maintenance day for both players.
Garrioch also noticed Tim Stutzle went down and appeared to be in some discomfort during practice, but that he returned to the bench.
Both Tkachuk and Chabot are expected to play on Tuesday against the New York Rangers.
Winnipeg Jets
Winnipeg Jets head coach Rick Bowness told TSN's John Lu that the team is hoping forward Vladislav Namestnikov can return from his lower body injury at some point in the upcoming road trip.
After hosting the Carolina Hurricanes in their next game, the Jets go on the road for four games along the West coast, starting in Colorado and ending in Los Angeles to play the Kings on Dec. 13.
The Winnipeg Jets skated the following lines in practice on Monday:
Connor - Scheifele - Ehlers
Iafallo - Perfetti - Vilardi
Neiderreiter - Lowry - Appleton
Barron - Gustafsson - Jonsson-Fjallby
Morrissey - DeMelo
Dillon - Pionk
Samberg - Chisholm
Brossoit
Hellebuyck
Winnipeg is set to battle the Hurricanes on Monday.
Washington Capitals
Washington Capitals forward Evgeny Kuznetsov will be a healthy scratch on Monday against the Arizona Coyotes. Head coach Spencer Carbery is calling it a "mental reset" for the veteran.
Kuznetsov was benched late in the Capitals' game against the Vegas Golden Knights on Saturday, where he was a -3 in just over 15 minutes of ice time. He has one point in his last six games.
Calgary Flames
Mikael Backlund will not be practicing on Monday, as he is getting a maintenance day off, while Elias Lindholm will also miss practice for the Calgary Flames as he is dealing with an illness.
The Flames play their next game on Tuesday, against the Minnesota Wild.
Detroit Red Wings
Detroit Red Wings for J.T. Compher did not practice with the team on Monday, per reports. Detroit is set to play their next game on Tuesday against the Buffalo Sabres.
The Red Wings skated the following lines in practice on Monday:
Fabbri Larkin Raymond
DeBrincat Veleno Kane
Rasmussen Copp Perron
Kostin Fischer Sprong
Newly-signed forward Patrick Kane says he does not expect to play against the Sabres. He feels healthy but it is a matter of game speed, per The Athletic's Max Bultman.
Kane has only practiced once with the team since signing last Tuesday.