An important player down the middle will be back in the lineup for the Montreal Canadiens.
Kirby Dach will dress for his first pre-season appearance Thursday night when the Canadiens host the Toronto Maple Leafs. Dach is coming off his second knee surgery in two years, which cost him the final two months of last season.
“I took time to mature a little bit off the ice and realize what it’s going to take for me to come back and be an impact player,” Dach told Sportsnet’s Eric Engels in a recent interview. “I think I’m just ready to play games and put everything from the past few years behind me in the rearview mirror and look forward to what’s next.”
The 24-year-old has been limited by injuries to just 117 games over the past three seasons, but when healthy is expected to serve as the No. 2 centre behind captain Nick Suzuki.
That’s where Dach will be slotted, between scorers Patrik Laine and rookie Ivan Demidov, on Thursday as the Canadiens dress an experienced lineup. Suzuki will once again centre a line with Cole Caufield and Juraj Slafkovsky.
The Canadiens will give some younger players another look at the other forward lines as Joshua Roy, Vinzenz Rohrer, Filip Mesar, Luke Tuch, Florian Xhekaj and Jared Davidson will all suit up.
On defence, Kaiden Guhle, Mike Matheson, Noah Dobson, David Reinbacher, Nate Clurman and Ryan O’Rourke will play. Samuel Montembeault will start in the net.
On the other bench, the Maple Leafs are sending a less experienced lineup to Montreal. Notable names who will be in the lineup for the Maple Leafs include Easton Cowan, Matias Maccelli and Bobby McMann, while Dennis Hildeby will start in goal.
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