BREAKING: Montreal Canadiens Suffer Some Bad News Losing A Key Player

The Montreal Canadiens received more unfavorable injury news as defenseman Arber Xhekaj is now on the injured-reserve list due to an upper-body injury. Xhekaj was absent for his third consecutive game during the Canadiens' 3-2 shootout victory over the San Jose Sharks.

Xhekaj sustained the injury following a significant hit from Ivan Barbashev during the second period of a 6-5 loss to the Vegas Golden Knights last Thursday at the Bell Centre. Observers noted Xhekaj favoring his left shoulder as he left the ice and has not played since. It is a concerning recurrence for Xhekaj, who suffered a season-ending injury to his right shoulder last season in a fight with the Edmonton Oilers' Vincent Desharnais, requiring surgery.

In response to the latest injury setback, the Canadiens have called up forward Joel Armia from the AHL's Laval Rocket. Armia is set to join the Canadiens in Los Angeles for their upcoming game against the Kings. Armia has posted impressive statistics with 6 goals, 3 assists, and 9 points in eight games with the Rocket this season, providing a potential boost for the Canadiens.

The injury bug continues to bite the Canadiens hard this season, with forward Kirby Dach already suffering a season-ending knee injury in the second game. Recently, the team announced that defenseman Jordan Harris is out indefinitely with a lower-body injury, and forward Rafaël Harvey-Pinard will be sidelined for 6-8 weeks due to a lower-body injury. Additionally, defenseman David Savard has been absent since sustaining a fractured hand on October 28th and is expected to miss another two to four weeks.

This unfortunate trend follows the Canadiens' record-setting 751 man-games lost to injury last season, surpassing their own previous record of 720 man-games lost from the season before.