Alex Galchenyuk out indefinitely for the Canadiens

Montreal Canadiens forward Alex Galchenyuk suffered a lower body injury in his team’s last game. He’s out indefinitely with a trip to the IR looming.

For the first two months of the season, the Montreal Canadiens have been the class of the Eastern Conference. While a lot of it is due to Carey Price, their new acquisitions have played a big role too. Shea Weber is off to the best offensive start of his career, and has Habs saying “P.K. who?”, while Alexander Radulov has proven to be a bargain with 21 points on the season.

But as far as scoring goes, Alex Galchenyuk remains their best player. He leads the team with 23 points in 25 games, and has firmly established himself as a fan favorite. But in their last game against the Los Angeles Kings, he exited the contest in the third period. Fans were hoping it wasn’t serious, but when the Habs diagnosed him with the Pat Quinn trademarked “lower body injury”, there was cause for concern:

Price is still the player that the Canadiens can’t afford to lose, but Galchenyuk is a fairly close second. Obviously, they haven’t provided many details since he has yet to undergo further testing, but people only use the term “out indefinitely” if someone is out long term. And the last thing fans need to see is Galchenyuk placed on IR.

Galchenyuk has put up consistent numbers throughout his career, and was looking to build on a 30-goal season last year. He was on his way to having his best season yet, but this injury will certainly derail things. The good news is that, at just 22, he has yet to reach his peak, and he’ll only come back from this stronger than ever.

Next: Best hockey player from each state

While Montreal’s offense would’ve dropped off considerably after an injury like this, they made it a point to go after forwards in the offseason. As long as Radulov and Max Pacioretty are clicking, they should be able to carry the load.