Montreal Canadiens winger Patrik Laine will miss the next three-to-four months after having surgery to repair a core muscle, the team announced Saturday.
Laine, a seven-time 20-goal scorer, has faced a challenging start in his second season with the Canadiens. He recorded one point and an assist in five games with his last appearance coming Oct. 16 in the Habs' 3-2 overtime win against the Nashville Predators.
Since then, he has been out of the lineup on a day-to-day basis with what was initially designated as a lower-body injury.
The Canadiens announced Laine's injury a week after they said that defenseman Kaiden Guhle would be out for up to six weeks with a lower-body injury.