Dominique Ducharme gives update on the status of two key forwards

Following practice on Saturday, Montreal Canadiens head coach Dominique Ducharme met with the media and gave updates on the status of forwards Josh Anderson and Tyler Toffoli.

Anderson suffered an upper-body injury on December 2nd against the Colorado Avalanche. He was originally supposed to only miss two-to-four weeks, but then the Canadiens updated his timeline to eight weeks before he'd be back.

Well, that timeline appears to have been altered again, but in a good way. Anderson skated in a contact jersey at Saturday's practice and Ducharme said that he's confident that he'll have the Burlington, Ontario native in the lineup on Monday afternoon.

"I feel 100 per cent ready to go," Josh Anderson told reporters on Saturday.

Dominique Ducharme indique avoir confiance que Josh Anderson pourra disputer le match de lundi, mais sa présence demeure à confirmer.

Dominique Ducharme says he's confident Josh Anderson will play on Monday, but his status remains to be confirmed.#GoHabsGo— Canadiens Montréal (@CanadiensMTL) January 15, 2022

As for Tyler Toffoli, he suffered a hand injury on December 4th against the Nashville Predators. Roughly a week after he suffered the injury, Toffoli underwent surgery and was deemed out for eight weeks. That timeline, much like Anderson's, has changed, as Toffoli could return at some point over the Canadiens' road trip.

Ducharme told the media that Toffoli won't play on Monday against Arizona or Tuesday against Dallas. He didn't rule out a return to action for the 29-year-old on Thursday against the Vegas Golden Knights. If Toffoli doesn't play against Vegas, then January 22nd against Colorado is another possible date for his return.

Toujours selon Ducharme, Tyler Toffoli pourrait revenir bientôt, mais probablement pas avant le match à Las Vegas ou au Colorado.

Ducharme says Tyler Toffoli is getting closer to a return, but probably won't be back before the games in Vegas or Colorado.#GoHabsGo— Canadiens Montréal (@CanadiensMTL) January 15, 2022

In other news, Paul Byron, Alex Belzile, Jesse Ylonen, and Rafael Harvey-Pinard are all out of the NHL's COVID-19 protocol and are skating back in Montreal working towards a return. It's unclear if either of them will meet the Canadiens at some point on their road trip or if they'll stay in Montreal until the next home game on January 27th against the Anaheim Ducks.

No change for Carey Price. Byron, Belzile, Ylonen, Harvey-Pinard all out of protocol, skating in Montreal.— Eric Engels (@EricEngels) January 15, 2022

It'll be a battle of the basement dwellers on Monday, as Montreal is in Glendale to take on the Arizona Coyotes. Note the start time for Monday's game is 4pm ET/2pm Arizona time. This is because of the holiday in the United States, Martin Luther King Jr. Day.

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