Montreal Canadiens fans breathed a collective sigh of relief when the club’s Twitter account posted this at 5 pm:
L'attaquant Patrik Laine souffre d'une entorse au genou gauche qui ne nécessitera pas de chirurgie. Sa période de réadaptation prévue est de deux à trois mois.
Forward Patrik Laine sustained a sprain to his left knee that will not require surgery. His rehabilitation period is… pic.twitter.com/sEPrSPDGHH
— Canadiens Montréal (@CanadiensMTL) October 1, 2024
Toronto winger Cedric Pare ran into Laine’s knee Saturday night early in the game. Laine’s knee buckled, and Laine hit the ice, writhing in pain. His injury looked worse than the one David Reinbacher suffered mere moments before. As it turns out – he may be back playing much sooner than Reinbacher, who is expected to miss at least the next 5-6 months after undergoing knee surgery this morning.
The season has not been lost after all. In fact, this may be the type of incident that brings the team closer together. Arber Xhekaj and Juraj Slafkovsky attempted to exact retribution soon after no penalty was called against Toronto winger Cedric Pare for his hit on Laine. The team rallied around the incident and look for that to carry into the regular season and the season opener at home against that same Leafs team.
Laine will miss the first 23 games if he recovers quickly and returns after two months. Montreal has a favorable schedule to start the season, playing seven of the first ten at home and facing only five 2023-24 playoff teams. The Canadiens play six of the next eight on the road, but several are winnable games. They face non-playoff teams in 11 of their first 18 games.
If the club can stay above .500 over the first 23 contests, Laine’s return will provide an added boost, and who knows? The doom and gloom of the past two days has been replaced by guarded optimism once again.
It has been a rollercoaster ride of a season already and the puck hasn’t even dropped on Game 1. Buckle up – this is going to be an emotional journey.
