The Canadiens held an optional practice in Brossard on Friday, one day before they host the Detroit Red Wings on Saturday at 7 PM ET. It was a small group on the ice, with 12 skaters and the two goalies. There was good news on one injury, bad news on another, and a tough stretch of games coming up.

Kapanen Is Back on the Ice

Oliver Kapanen was back on the ice on Friday after two days away from the group. He is still considered day-to-day, and the team is evaluating him one day at a time, so there is no date yet for his first game. He has not played in a regular season game this year, and the lineup is waiting on him. Kaiden Guhle was on the ice too.

Montembeault: Terrible Timing After a Hard Year

Samuel Montembeault is out 10 to 14 days with a lower-body injury. He got hurt at Wednesday’s practice, the day before he was set to make a start that would have been his first real one in seven months. His last game was March 6.

That is what makes this one hard. Last season was a bad one for him: 25 games, a 3.43 goals-against average and a .872 save percentage, while Jakub Dobes took over and helped the team reach the conference final. Montembeault worked all summer to bounce back and had a strong camp. Coach Martin St-Louis called it disappointing to see him get hurt, but said the injury is not serious and the news is encouraging, and Alexandre Carrier said Montembeault was excellent in camp and hard to beat even in practice. Now the comeback has to wait. Read how Jacob Fowler got the call.

The net now belongs to Dobes and Fowler, and Dobes is the logical choice to start against Detroit on Saturday, although nothing has been announced. Dobes has played three games and stopped 77 of 90 shots, a .856 save percentage. Fowler made his first start against Nashville and stopped 15 of 18, a .833 save percentage.

The Special Teams Problem

Montreal is 1 for 13 on the power play, 7.7 percent and 27th in the league, and the penalty kill is at 70.6 percent, 24th. St-Louis was clear about the power play: the team is better than those numbers, it did not execute, and he is confident it will turn around. One problem is volume, because Montreal has put fewer than one shot on goal on net per power play so far. He also said the penalty kill structure is close to where it should be. Cole Caufield said the group may need to simplify to create better chances.

The schedule gives them a chance to prove it. Early numbers are small, but Detroit’s penalty kill is at 61.5 percent, Buffalo’s is at 63.6 and Chicago’s is at 64.3. If the power play is going to wake up, these are the games.

St-Louis: Stay on the Process

St-Louis said the group is built around focusing on the process, which helps the players forget what happened yesterday and get excited for the next game. He admitted that he and the players are disappointed after four games and that there are parts of the game that need to improve. But he also said the team is happy with the areas it wanted to fix from last season and believes it is getting better. For now, he acknowledged, the results say something different.

Matheson Shows Up, and the Veterans Lead

St-Louis also spoke about Mike Matheson, who took the tripping penalty at 15:45 of the third period against Nashville that led to the power-play goal that decided the game. The coach was supportive.

St-Louis said: “Just like the team yesterday, we played an excellent game. Mike played an excellent game. It’s too bad that he takes the penalty at the end, but that’s life. So, I’m not worried about Mike. He’ll be ready when the time comes.”

Matheson did not hide either. He was on the ice for the optional practice and he spoke to the media afterward, owning a night that cost the team. That matters. When a veteran makes a mistake that hurts the group, the next move shows what kind of leader he is, and showing up is the first step.

He was not alone. Even at an optional skate, Alexandre Carrier, Jake Evans and Cole Caufield were on the ice with him, and captain Nick Suzuki was at the rink too, even though he did not dress for the practice. Some other regulars, including Josh Anderson, Phillip Danault, Noah Dobson, Alex Newhook and Chris Kreider, did not skate, which is normal for an optional day. But with the team at 1-2-1 and the results saying otherwise, it matters that the veterans who did show up led by example.

The Challenge: The Next Six Games

The Canadiens are 1-2-1 with 3 points, and the next six games will say a lot about where this season is going. Detroit on Saturday, Buffalo on Tuesday, a trip to Washington on Wednesday, Buffalo again on October 17, San Jose on October 20 and a game in Chicago on October 23. Four of the six are at the Bell Centre. Detroit is 1-2-0, Buffalo is 2-2-0, Washington is 2-1-0, San Jose is 3-1-0 and Chicago is 1-4-0, so none of them is out of reach, but none of them is a gift either.

Tuesday at home against Buffalo and Wednesday in Washington is a back-to-back, which will likely mean both Dobes and Fowler play. With Montembeault out for at least the first three games of this stretch, the goaltending has to hold, and the team in front of them has to stop giving away goals. The Canadiens have allowed 19 goals in four games.

Both Xhekajs Were Not on the Ice

Neither Arber Xhekaj nor Florian Xhekaj was on the ice. Arber has played four games this season and Florian has played two. No reason was given, and it was an optional skate, so we will not guess. We will update the Injury Report as soon as there is anything official.

What Comes Next

The goalie and the lines for Detroit will come on game day. Follow the Lineup Tonight page for the full picture before the puck drops.