Canadiens’ Gallagher out at least eight weeks after hand surgery

Watch as a Shea Weber shot connects with another teammate this time Brendan Gallagher and Max Pacioretty follows that up with a goal.

Montreal Canadiens forward Brendan Gallagher will miss at least eight weeks after undergoing hand surgery, the team announced Friday.

Gallagher left Wednesday’s game against the Dallas Stars after taking a Shea Weber slap shot off of his left hand. (See the incident at the top of this post.)

This is the second injury to Gallagher’s left hand in as many seasons, as the winger fractured two fingers last November, causing him to miss about six weeks.

The 24-year-old has six goals and 18 points in 38 games this season.

The Canadiens are also dealing with injuries to forwards Alex Galchenyuk, David Desharnais and Andrew Shaw, as well as defenceman Andrei Markov.

Galchenyuk and Desharnais have both been sidelined with knee injuries since early December, and were given estimated recovery times of six to eight weeks. Both players skated for the first time on Dec. 27 and could be back in game action soon.

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