Montreal Canadiens Lose Top Six Forward Ahead of Crucial Game Three

After two tight games in Washington, the first-round Stanley Cup Playoffs series now shifts to Montreal, with the Canadiens needing to win at least one game at home to keep their season alive, starting with Friday night's exciting matchup.

Unfortunately, the offense has struggled through two games, tallying a total of just three goals in that time, and that has led to them facing an 0-2 deficit after two tough outings.

Now, it's been made official that the team will also miss one of their key forwards for a must-win Game 3, with Patrik Laine officially ruled out, according to top NHL Insider Elliotte Friedman.

A follow up from Frank Seravalli has revealed that Laine will be evaluated day-to-day moving forward with the upper-body injury that will cause him to miss a crucial matchup.

In two games thus far, Laine has been solid without producing on the scoreboard, but with a -2 differential, it's become clear that the rise in level of play hasn't been an easy one for anyone on this Canadiens team to deal with.

Without Laine in the lineup, Montreal will continue to rely on their young, inexperienced core of Nick Suzuki, Cole Caufield and Lane Hutson among others, and while none of them have been bad, they've not excelled either, and now they'll be hoping that with the added support of a raucous Bell Centre in Montreal, they can turn the tide and get back into this series with a massive win in Game Three.