Canadiens’ Jake Evans did not return to game vs. Capitals
Montreal Canadiens center Jake Evans did not return to Thursday’s 8-4 loss to the Washington Capitals.
L’attaquant Jake Evans ne sera pas de retour au jeu ce soir.
Forward Jake Evans won’t return to tonight’s game.
The Canadiens did not confirm the reason for Evans’ departure, particularly if it was injury-related. However, many believe that it is due to an injury, as he was elbowed in the head by Tom Wilson in the second period and went to the room while bleeding from his mouth. Evans returned after a five-minute absence from the game, took one shift at the end of the period, and then was confirmed to be out for the rest of the game at the start of the third period. There was no penalty on the hit from Wilson.
Jake Evans, bleeding from his mouth, because Tom Wilson elbowed him in the mouth, has left for the room.
— Matt Drake (@DrakeMT) November 21, 2025It’s unclear when an update on Evans will be provided. Canadiens head coach Martin St. Louis has yet to provide one after the game, so we’ll either get one if the Canadiens practice on Friday or ahead of their game on Saturday against the Toronto Maple Leafs.
Evans left the game with a giveaway and was on the ice for three goals against in 12:19 of ice time in the loss.
With Evans out of the game, fourth-line center Joe Veleno got most of the shifts in Evans’ place on the third line with Josh Anderson and Joshua Roy. Oliver Kapanen, who centered the second line, also got a couple shifts on the third line.
Should Evans miss any significant time, the only player listed as a healthy scratch on the Canadiens roster was Kirby Dach, who was announced earlier this week to be out for 4-to-6 weeks with a broken foot. This means that Montreal will need to call an additional player up from their AHL affiliate, the Laval Rocket, to play in Saturday’s game.
Evans has had a slow start to the season with three goals and three assists for six points in 19 games.
The Canadiens will look to snap their slump of seven losses in eight games when they host the Maple Leafs on Saturday at 7 p.m. EST. Montreal currently sits in fourth in the Atlantic Division with a 10-7-3 record, but are behind three other teams in the Metropolitan Division for the final wild card spot in the Eastern Conference.