Canadiens' Noah Dobson 'being evaluated' after exiting loss against Blue Jackets

Montreal Canadiens' Noah Dobson (53) is hit by the puck while blocking a shot during second period NHL hockey action against the Columbus Blue Jackets', in Montreal on Saturday, April 11, 2026. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Christopher Katsarov

MONTREAL — The Montreal Canadiens are facing a potential blue-line setback one week before their second straight trip to the Stanley Cup playoffs.

Head coach Martin St. Louis said defenceman Noah Dobson was “being evaluated” after leaving Saturday’s 5-2 loss to the Columbus Blue Jackets from a blocked shot.

Dobson’s left hand took the brunt of a Zach Werenski slap shot in the second period. He headed down the tunnel to the dressing room and did not return.

“When you lose a right shot, we didn’t have any right-shot defencemen, it’s definitely a challenge,” St. Louis said. “He’s being evaluated, so we’ll see.”

Dobson’s equipment was still in his dressing room stall as the Canadiens prepared to travel to Long Island for a meeting with the New York Islanders on Sunday.

Montreal is already down right-shot defenceman Alexandre Carrier, who was ruled out for two to four weeks with an upper-body injury on March 31. Kaiden Guhle, a lefty, has also missed three straight games for “maintenance,” the Canadiens said.

Dobson, who has yet to miss a game this season, plays the third-most minutes (22:29) on the Canadiens behind Mike Matheson and Lane Hutson.

The 26-year-old from Summerside, P.E.I., has 12 goals and 35 assists in 80 games for the playoff-bound Canadiens this season, his first in Montreal after being acquired by the New York Islanders last summer.

Often tasked to defend the toughest assignments alongside Matheson, the six-foot-four, 200-pound blueliner also leads the NHL with 188 blocked shots.

“A lot of the little things he does go unnoticed, but not by our group,” Hutson said. “He plays big minutes for us, plays against the top competition, shuts down some really high-end players on the other side and pitches in pretty good offensively, too. He does it all for us and tough to see him leave earlier in the game.

“I don’t know anything about what’s going on or whatever. But yeah, it sucks. We’re worried about him for sure and he’s such a big part of our team, so hopefully nothing crazy.”

Montreal (104 points) fell from second to third in the Atlantic Division behind Tampa Bay (104 points), which holds the regulation-wins tiebreaker over the Canadiens. Buffalo leads the division at 106 points with two regular-season games left for all three teams.

St. Louis didn’t yet know if the Canadiens would call up an extra defenceman for their remaining games Sunday on Long Island and Tuesday in Philadelphia.

Defencemen Jayden Struble and Arber Xhekaj, who’ve been in and out of the lineup all season, will take on larger roles if Dobson stays on the shelf.

“It’s consistency,” St. Louis said of what he hopes to see from the two young blueliners. “Defending, doing the next action offensively.

“We’re going to continue to progress with our young defenders and, all depending on Noah, we’re going to adapt.”

Canadiens rookie Ivan Demidov also went to the dressing room in the third when he was hit headfirst into the boards by Werenski, but he returned later in the period.

One away

Montreal captain Nick Suzuki, with an assist on Cole Caufield’s 51st goal of the season, moved within one point of becoming the first Canadien to hit 100 since Mats Naslund in 1985-86.

Suzuki’s 99 points are already the most-ever by a Canadiens captain, passing Pierre Turgeon’s 96-point season in 1995-96. Turgeon met with Suzuki in the Bell Centre dressing room after Saturday’s game.

Desperate hockey

The Blue Jackets are fighting for their playoff lives – and it showed.

Boone Jenner and Charlie Coyle scored early as Columbus jumped out to a 2-0 lead before the game was six minutes old. The Blue Jackets also registered eight unanswered shots just 3:18 into the game, setting the tone for the rest of the evening.

They sit outside the playoff picture, two points behind Philadelphia for third place in the Metropolitan Division, with two home games remaining Sunday against Boston and Tuesday versus Washington.

“Because our backs are against the wall and we can’t afford to come out slow and dip our toe in,” Coyle said to explain the strong start. “Everyone knows what’s at stake, where we’re at in the season, what we need right now.”

This report by The Canadian Press was first published April 11, 2026.

Daniel Rainbird, The Canadian Press