Canadiens’ Galchenyuk, Shaw will play Saturday vs. Rangers

Watch as Andrew Shaw gets rocked by Torey Krug in the neutral zone.

MONTREAL—The Montreal Canadiens (26-11-6) are getting a big boost to their lineup for their game against the New York Rangers (28-14-1) Saturday.

Forwards Alex Galchenyuk (knee) and Andrew Shaw (concussion) will return after lengthy absences.

Galchenyuk, who was injured in a collision with Los Angeles Kings captain Anze Kopitar on Dec. 4, is coming back exactly one day short of six weeks. He was originally projected to miss as much as eight weeks.

Galchenyuk was leading the Canadiens with nine goals and 14 assists (23 points) in 25 games when he went down.

Shaw, who took an open-ice hit from Boston Bruins defenceman Torrey Krug back on Dec. 12, has missed Montreal’s last 14 games.

He had accumulated six goals and nine assists (15 points) in 29 games before suffering his injury.

The Canadiens are still without defencemen Andrei Markov (groin) and Greg Pateryn (ankle) and forward Brendan Gallagher—who is slated to miss another seven weeks after breaking his hand in a game against the Dallas Stars on Jan. 4.

Markov, who has missed Montreal’s last 12 games, resumed skating with the team last week but has not been on the ice with them since Monday.

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