The Montreal Canadiens announced Sunday that winger Brendan Gallagher is out indefinitely after fracturing two fingers on his left hand.
Gallagher, who will undergo surgery on Monday, suffered the injury in the second period of Montreal’s 4-2 win over the Islanders while blocking a shot by Johnny Boychuk.
“He was playing his best hockey, obviously,” said Canadiens coach Michel Therrien. “It’s a big loss, what are we going to do? We can’t feel sorry about ourselves. That’s the way it is. In the past, we lost Carey Price and that was a big loss too, but we still found a way to be competitive and be successful and that won’t change.”
The 23-year-old Edmonton native is tied for the team lead in scoring this season with nine goals and 19 points in 21 games.