Habs forward Alex Newhook to miss four months with broken ankle

Montreal Canadiens' Alex Newhook (15) collides with the boards feet first in front of Dallas Stars' Ilya Lyubushkin (46) during second period NHL hockey action in Montreal on Thursday, Nov. 13, 2025. (Christinne Muschi/The Canadian Press)

The Montreal Canadiens announced that forward Alex Newhook will miss four months with a broken ankle.

In an update on Friday afternoon, the Habs said Newhook underwent surgery on Friday at Montreal General Hospital, performed by Dr. Greg Berry.

Newhook was injured in the second period of Thursday’s game against the Dallas Stars at the Bell Centre when he crashed into the boards after being hooked by defenceman Ilya Lyubushkin.

The 24-year-old Newfoundlander has six goals and as many assists in 17 games this season.

Prior to this update, the Habs recalled forward Jared Davidson from the Laval Rocket, their farm team in the American Hockey League. In 13 games with the Rocket this season, Davidson has scored nine goals and added two assists.

In other news, the Canadiens’ management announced that defenceman Kaiden Guhle, who suffered a partial tear to his adductor muscle, underwent surgery on Thursday in New York and will be out of action for eight to 10 weeks.

Reviewing a loss

The Canadiens hope to have put their poor performance against the Stars behind them and be ready to weather their first storm of the season.

On Friday morning, the players moved on from their 7-0 loss to the Stars, with only Lane Hutson, Zachary Bolduc, Ivan Demidov and Oliver Kapanen skating at the CN Sports Complex. Jake Evans and Brendan Gallagher took a spin on the ice before them.

“We understand what we did wrong,” Evans said. “We lost 7-0, but I don’t think we played that badly, and we want to move forward.

“We’ve been playing good hockey since the start of the season. We can be proud of our record. I’m not going to worry too much about it.”

Head coach Martin St-Louis was more cautious, not wanting to dwell on the video session with his players.

Nevertheless, St-Louis expressed his desire to see his team tighten up its defensive play after allowing 12 goals in its last two games.

“We’re there in the defensive zone, but it’s not enough to just be there. We have to do the job,” he insisted. “Sometimes that job is far from the puck. It’s fighting in front of the net, neutralizing sticks in front of the net. It’s one-on-one battles higher up the ice, along the boards. Can we stifle more plays? Can we be more aggressive, instead of being passive and just keeping the opponent on top of us? When you have the chance, you have to neutralize the opponent. But we have to be more physically engaged.”

Even though the Canadiens have lost four of their last five games (1-2-2), they’re still at the top of the Atlantic Division.

The players pointed out that their strong start to the season put them in a position where they can afford one or two poor performances. However, that doesn’t mean they don’t feel a sense of urgency to get out of this slump.

“Even yesterday (Thursday), I liked how we started the game,” said forward Josh Anderson. “We approached this game the right way and we need to build on that.”

The Canadiens will play their next game on Saturday, when the Boston Bruins visit the Bell Centre.

The Bruins have 22 points in the standings, the same as the Canadiens, but have played two more games than their rivals. They won seven straight games before losing 5-3 to the Senators in Ottawa on Thursday.

The Canadiens players were unanimous in saying that a visit from a big rival on a Saturday night was the ideal situation to come out strong and put on a dazzling performance.

“They’re a team we like to play,” Anderson admitted. “It’s going to be a physical game, so it’s a good opportunity for all of us to get physically involved and be at our best.”

St-Louis confirmed that Samuel Montembeault will be in goal for the Canadiens against the Bruins.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published in French on Nov. 14, 2025.