Kirby Dach returns to Canadiens lineup after three-game absence

The Montreal Canadiens have announced that center Kirby Dach will return to the lineup for Thursday’s game against the Edmonton Oilers.

Dach had missed the last three games due to an upper-body injury. The cause for his injury is not known, as he appeared to be fine during the last game he played before the injury, a 3-2 overtime win over the Nashville Predators last Thursday, even taking a shift during the overtime period in that game.

The Canadiens went 2-1-0 in Dach’s absence, first losing 4-3 to the New York Rangers before beating the Buffalo Sabres 4-2 and the Calgary Flames 2-1 in overtime.

Dach returns to the lineup playing in the bottom six on a line with Joe Veleno and Zack Bolduc for Thursday’s game. This trio has yet to play together this season, and hasn’t prior to this season with Veleno and Bolduc being new additions to the team.

Dach’s start has been unnoteworthy in the sense that it hasn’t been notably good or bad before his injury. In five games, he has one goal and one assist for two points in five games so far this year, and is coming off of a disappointing season where he had just 10 goals and 12 assists for 22 points in 57 games.

With Dach coming into the lineup, winger Joshua Roy will be a healthy scratch to make room. Roy only played in Tuesday’s win over the Flames, and he did not have a point in that game.

The Canadiens will look to build on back-to-back wins, and continue their great start to their Western Canada road trip, when they visit the Oilers at 9 p.m. EST on Thursday. Montreal currently has a 6-2-0 record on the season, which is good enough for first place in the Atlantic Division.