Florian Xhekaj is out two weeks with a lower-body injury, and the Montreal Canadiens just took another setback in a lineup that's already running thin.
Karine Hains reported the timeline Friday, one day before the Canadiens host the Buffalo Sabres. The club had listed the 22-year-old forward as day-to-day without saying why.
Two weeks on this calendar covers a lot of hockey. Saturday's rematch with Buffalo, Tuesday's visit from San Jose, then a four-game road trip through Chicago, Winnipeg, St. Louis and Dallas.
The first date outside that window is a Halloween night home game against Pittsburgh.
Nobody should pretend this blows a crater in the top six. No. 63 dressed for just two games, held scoreless and went minus-4 in that span.
Small sample, ugly number. And for a young forward trying to stick, that rating is the kind of line that follows you into every lineup meeting.
Depth is where this bites. The Canadiens sit 3-3-1, seventh in their division, and have surrendered 27 goals through seven games.
Martin St-Louis now has a depth problem and a crease problem
Samuel Montembeault remains on injured reserve with a lower-body issue, expected out until at least October 20. Jakub Dobes, meanwhile, owns an .842 save percentage.
Jacob Fowler has been the steadier option at .906 with a shutout, which says plenty about where the bar currently sits.
Losing a depth forward right now is like losing the spare tire on a car with a slow leak. You keep driving, but every mile feels borrowed.
So who steps in? Owen Beck is the name already in the mix, though he's pointless through two games at minus-2.
Help isn't exactly flowing from elsewhere in the bottom six. Jake Evans is held scoreless through seven games and went minus-5 over his last five.
Kent Hughes has to decide whether to recall a body or ride it out. With Xhekaj carrying a $941,666 cap hit, money won't be what drives that call.
Here's where I land. Rushing a kid into a four-game road trip to plug one bottom-six hole is a bad idea when the real leak sits in the crease.
There's a family wrinkle, too. Arber Xhekaj stays on the blue line without his brother, still chasing his first point through seven games.
Montreal edged Buffalo 4-3 in a shootout Tuesday, then dropped a 5-4 decision in Washington the next night on the back end of a back-to-back.
The Sabres arrive 4-3-1 after an overtime win in Toronto on Thursday. They've also allowed 30 goals in eight games, so this one could get loose.
Nick Suzuki has 9 points and Lane Hutson has 8, so the top of the lineup is pulling its weight. The bottom half is where Saturday gets decided.
Two weeks from now, the younger Xhekaj could be ready to return. Whether a sweater is still waiting depends on what this group does without him on the road.
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Should Kent Hughes recall a forward instead of riding out Florian Xhekaj's absence?
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