Canadiens Lose Minute-Muncher Mike Matheson to Lower-Body Injury Ahead of Sabres Clash

The Montreal Canadiens are going to have to figure out how to play defense without their biggest minute-muncher. Mike Matheson has been officially ruled out of Tuesday night's matchup against the Buffalo Sabres with a lower-body injury, according to Daily Faceoff.

Losing Matheson is the kind of roster blow that forces a coach to completely rewrite the whiteboard. He is the guy who anchors the blue line, runs the power play, and generally prevents the defensive zone from turning into a chaotic fire drill.

"Daily Faceoff reported Matheson is out with a lower-body injury."

Without him, Montreal has to redistribute roughly half a game's worth of ice time among defensemen who are probably not ready for that kind of workload. It is like asking the understudy to step in for the lead role, except the play is a high-speed collision on ice and the audience is actively rooting for your downfall.

The Canadiens are coming off a weird stretch of hockey. They just managed to grind out a 1-0 shutout win over the Detroit Red Wings on Saturday, which was a massive bounce-back after giving up 11 combined goals in back-to-back losses to the Carolina Hurricanes and Nashville Predators.

Now they have to face a Buffalo squad that just hung five goals on the Florida Panthers. The Sabres have been wildly inconsistent, getting blanked by the Dallas Stars and routed by the Utah Hockey Club before suddenly remembering how to score against the defending champs.

For anyone looking at the betting board, Matheson being scratched changes the entire math of this game. Montreal's transition game takes a massive hit, and Buffalo's forwards are going to see a lot more open ice than they would have if number eight was out there logging his usual heavy shifts.

The immediate question is who steps up to fill the void on the top pairing and the man advantage. The bigger question is how long this lower-body issue keeps Matheson in the press box, because the Canadiens simply do not have the depth to survive a long-term absence from their most reliable defenseman.