{"id":549047,"date":"2026-04-09T22:33:20","date_gmt":"2026-04-09T22:33:20","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/549047\/"},"modified":"2026-04-09T22:33:20","modified_gmt":"2026-04-09T22:33:20","slug":"canadiens-dealt-painful-injury-loss-before-must-win-game-against-the-lightning","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/549047\/","title":{"rendered":"Canadiens dealt painful injury loss before must-win game against the Lightning"},"content":{"rendered":"


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\n\t\t\t\t\t \"Montreal <\/p>\n

Photo credit: David Kirouac-Imagn Images<\/p>\n

We have bad news for the Montreal Canadiens ahead of tonight’s game at the Bell Centre.<\/p>\n

As the Canadiens prepare to play one of their most important games of the season tonight against the formidable Tampa Bay Lightning at the Bell Centre, a key piece will be missing.<\/p>\n

The concerns raised earlier this week by general manager Kent Hughes now appear to be materializing: defenseman Kaiden Guhle will likely miss this crucial matchup.<\/p>\n

TVA Sports journalist Nicolas Cloutier reported a very telling observation on X during the team\u2019s morning skate ahead of tonight\u2019s game.<\/p>\n

Obviously, Martin St-Louis never wants to confirm anything in a press conference, but this says a lot.<\/p>\n

Kaiden Guhle likely out as Canadiens adjust defensive pairings vs Lightning<\/p>\n

“Carrier and Guhle are skating with [Adam] Nicholas this morning,” Cloutier first noted, referring to the Canadiens\u2019 Director of Hockey Development, who typically works with injured or scratched players before regular practice.<\/p>\n

That alone was enough to draw the obvious conclusion from the situation.<\/p>\n

“This suggests that Guhle would not be in uniform tonight. We\u2019ll see,” the sports journalist added.<\/p>\n

This is a massive loss for the Canadiens.<\/p>\n

Facing an offensive powerhouse like the Lightning (led by stars such as Nikita Kucherov and Brayden Point) requires a defensive group operating at its absolute best.<\/p>\n

Without Guhle to neutralize the opposing top weapons, the task becomes monumental for the rest of the blue line.<\/p>\n

As expected, young defensemen Arber Xhekaj and Adam Engstrom will need to step up and prove they can hold the fort in what has the feel of a playoff game.<\/p>\n

Kaiden Guhle, 24, is the Canadiens\u2019 most heavily relied-upon defenseman in defensive situations.<\/p>\n

Previously on Montreal Hockey Fanatics<\/p>\n

POLL<\/p>\n

2 HOURS AGO|147 ANSWERS<\/p>\n

Canadiens dealt painful injury loss before must-win game against the Lightning<\/p>\n

Are you concerned about the Canadiens\u2019 defensive unit without Kaiden Guhle tonight against the Lightning?<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Photo credit: David Kirouac-Imagn Images We have bad news for the Montreal Canadiens ahead of…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":549048,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[5,20643,1748,412,21,4,182,92],"class_list":{"0":"post-549047","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-nhl","8":"tag-hockey","9":"tag-injured","10":"tag-kaiden-guhle","11":"tag-martin-st-louis","12":"tag-montreal-canadiens","13":"tag-nhl","14":"tag-playoffs","15":"tag-tampa-bay-lightning"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@nhl\/116377132515402140","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/549047","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=549047"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/549047\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/549048"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=549047"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=549047"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=549047"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}