Canadian defender Michael Matheson trained on the right of Joel EdmundsonFriday, and should play his first game with his new team very soon.
Suffering from an abdominal injury, Matheson has still not played a game this season in the uniform of his new team. Recently, the Pointe-Claire native trained with a non-contact jersey, unlike today, which marked his first practice with a defensive pair.
With his return, it’s the young defender Arber Xhekaj who suffered and who was playing to the left of Chris Wideman on the fourth pair.
It is therefore possible that Matheson will play his first game of the season on Saturday, when the Habs will receive a visit from the Philadelphia Flyers.
“His skating is efficient and he covers a lot of ice,” said head coach Martin St-Louis. He can play a lot of minutes. »
For their part, attackers Evgenii Dadonov, Juraj Slafkovsky et Jake Evans missed training, enjoying a day of treatments instead.
On his side, Joel Armia skated alone before his teammates. Armia hasn’t played since Nov. 12 once morest the Pittsburgh Penguins. He is bothered by an upper body injury.
Healthy competition ahead in defense
Matheson’s opener should create some healthy competition within the defensive squad. The CH continues to count night following night on four rookies on the blue line, since veteran Chris Wideman is the one who has mostly been sidelined since the return to play of Joel Edmundson.
Matheson has over 400 NHL games with the Florida Panthers and Penguins. And while the Canadian has allowed at least four goals in his last three games, his return seems timely.
“He’s a guy who knows what it takes to win,” Edmundson said. Our young nucleus did well, but it’s always good when a veteran is inserted into the formation. »
Kaiden Guhle has been pairing up with David Savard since the start of the season. Jordan Harris and Johnathan Kovacevic also spent the majority of the time together. Arber Xhekaj had been playing with Edmundson for several games, but he trained with Wideman on Friday. Xhekaj might therefore be left out of training when Matheson is ready.
“It’s funny, I was talking regarding it with Kovy (Kovacevic). We are all fighting for the same place, but we are all good friends, Xhekaj pointed out. We understand that this is nothing personal.
“That’s the reality of the NHL. The margin for error is so slim. You have to give it your all every night in hopes of staying in formation. »
St-Louis said he’s looking forward to the internal competition looming on the horizon.
“They have to understand that it’s healthy competition and it’s usually that type of competition that helps you get to another level,” said St-Louis. They will benefit from this situation. »
Meanwhile, St. Louis hasn’t said he’s worried regarding the upward trend in goals once morest in his squad’s recent games.
“It comes with the style we play,” he noted. We are focused on attack, we dominate and boom! We shoot each other in the foot and give up a goal.
“You have to be more alert with our style of play. It’s part of learning. »
