Alex Newhook will be out about 10-12 weeks for the Montreal Canadiens because of a high ankle sprain.
The 22-year-old center left during the third period of a 5-1 loss to the Florida Panthers on Thursday after crashing into the net and favored his left leg as he was helped off the ice.
“It obviously [stinks]," Montreal captain Nick Suzuki said Saturday. "We were hoping for something better. I was talking to him yesterday, so it’s obviously unfortunate. I feel bad for him, he was playing really good hockey as of late. And for us, it’s just next man up. But he’s obviously a big hole and guys are going to have to step up.”
Newhook, who has 13 points (seven goals, six assists) in 23 games this season, is the latest Montreal player to be sidelined, joining defensemen David Savard (broken hand, out 18 games), Arber Xhekaj (upper body, six games) and Jordan Harris (lower body, five games), and forward Rafael Harvey-Pinard (lower body, seven games).
In addition, center Kirby Dach is out for the season with a torn ACL and MCL, defenseman Chris Wideman has not played this season and is out indefinitely because of a back injury, and goalie Carey Price is unable to to continue his NHL career because of a knee injury.
Selected by the Colorado Avalanche in the first round (No. 16) of the 2019 NHL Draft, Newhook has 79 points (34 goals, 45 assists) in 182 NHL games with the Avalanche and Canadiens, and seven points (one goal, six assists) in 27 Stanley Cup Playoff games.
The Canadiens (10-11-3), in sixth place in the eight-game Atlantic Division, lost 5-4 in overtime to the Detroit Red Wings at home Saturday.
