Updates from practice – Oct. 25 

BROSSARD – Following a day off, the Canadiens put on their practice gear and got back to work at the CN Sports Complex on Friday.

Prior to the main session, Rafaël Harvey-Pinard got in some reps with Player development consultant Paul Byron on one end of the ice, while Juraj Slafkovsky worked with Director of hockey development Adam Nicholas on the other end.

Justin Barron also laced up his skates for some solo work. The 22-year-old defenseman left Tuesday’s game against the New York Rangers following a hit from Jacob Trouba in the third period. He is day-to-day with an upper-body injury.

The same forward lines that faced the Rangers were featured at the hour-long practice:

Jayden Struble was paired with Mike Matheson or David Savard at practice, while Arber Xhekaj found himself rotating with Lane Hutson and Logan Mailloux.

Samuel Montembeault and Cayden Primeau completed the group. Head coach Martin St-Louis confirmed the former will get the start against the St. Louis Blues while the latter will face the Flyers in Philadelphia on Sunday. He also added that Arber Xhekaj will return to the lineup on Saturday after being a healthy scratch for the last two contests.

Three days with no games may seem like a long time without hockey, but the break in action gave the Canadiens an opportunity to regroup.

“I think we got a lot of good work in,” said captain Nick Suzuki during his media op. “There are not too many times in the season where you can get this many days between games. We definitely put the work in and expect a good performance tomorrow.”

Game time against the Blues is set for 7:00 p.m. ET at the Bell Centre. For tickets, click here.

For fans attending Saturday’s game: The Ville-Marie Expressway (Autoroute 136) will be closed this weekend, so please plan accordingly!