Canadiens’ Noah Dobson leaves game against Blue Jackets due to injury

Certainly news that a playoff team doesn’t want to hear this close to the end of the regular season.

As the third period began between the Montreal Canadiens and the Columbus Blue Jackets on Saturday night, the Canadiens announced that defenseman Noah Dobson wouldn’t be returning to the game.

While the team didn’t state what the reason for Dobson’s departure was, it was clear that the 26-year-old was ailing from something that happened in the middle stanza. In the latter half of the second, he took a shot right off his left thumb. While he finished out his shift, Dobson went down the tunnel and into the Canadiens’ locker room.

Dobson left the contest after logging 12:57 of ice time across 11 shots, posting a plus/minus of -2, while blocking a shot and delivering a hit.

While it’s too early to gauge the severity of the injury, the possibility of losing an offensive weapon like Dobson this close to the Stanley Cup Playoffs is enough to make Habs fans quiver. Since coming over to Montreal in a trade last June, the Summerside, P.E.I. native has proven to be a key contributor on a team that has solidified itself as one of the best teams in the Atlantic Division.

Having played in each of the team’s first 80 games of the season, Dobson has scored 12 goals and 35 assists for 47 points, sitting sixth on the team in scoring and second in points by a blueliner, only trailing reigning Calder Trophy winner Lane Hutson. Dobson also has a +5 rating while averaging over 22 minutes of ice time per game, good for third on the Habs.

The Canadiens have already punched their ticket to the playoffs, but they still have something to play for in the final two games of the 2025-26 campaign. Montreal sits tied for second in the Atlantic with the Tampa Bay Lightning, both two points back of the first-place Buffalo Sabres.