Suzuki Returns as Canadiens Host Mammoth

Nick Suzuki is back. The Montreal Canadiens captain returns Thursday night against the Utah Mammoth at the Bell Centre after missing the past six games with an upper-body injury, ending a 546-game streak that ran from the start of his NHL career.

Suzuki has 12 points (five goals, seven assists) in nine games this season after a career-high 101 points last year, a plus-37, and the Selke Trophy as the NHL's top defensive forward. Kirby Dach also returns after missing the last two games with illness. Jakub Dobes gets the start. First puck drop is 7 p.m. ET on Military Appreciation Night.

Six Games Away, Then a Ugly Close

The injury came from a Matt Kesselring shot on Oct. 20 against the San Jose Sharks. Montreal went 5-0-1 without its captain, then blew a 4-0 lead in the last 2:39 against the Winnipeg Jets on Tuesday and lost 5-4 in overtime. That collapse was the latest four-goal comeback allowed in NHL history, and it landed right as Suzuki was clearing to return.

"It's tough coming into the rink with everyone gone and you've got to put your work in," Suzuki said. "I couldn't hold a stick in my left hand. You guys all see me skating left handed, all the guys thought that was pretty funny. So yeah, I think it's good to be back around the group now."

Dach Back, Dobes in Net

Dach rejoins the middle of the lineup after the two-game illness absence. Dobes gets the crease against a Utah club that sits 10-6-0. Montreal is 9-3-3. The top line is expected to run Cole Caufield, Suzuki, and Juraj Slafkovsky again, the trio that made the Habs one of the East's early surprises before the captain's hand forced him out.

Suzuki was among 17 players at the optional morning skate. The club had originally listed him out two to four weeks when the injury was announced Oct. 22. Landing back inside that window for a home date against Utah is the best news Montreal has had all week.

What a 546-Game Streak Meant

Starting a career without missing a game, then watching six from the outside while the team kept winning, then watching a 4-0 lead disappear in under three minutes, is a lot to process in one return night. Suzuki does not need a speech. He needs a stick in the left hand and a shift with Caufield.

Smacktok pick lean: Lean higher on Suzuki faceoff wins and Caufield shots. The captain is back on the first line after six games out, and Montreal needs the Caufield-Suzuki-Slafkovsky look to stabilize after Tuesday's collapse.

Captain back, Dach back, Dobes in net. That is the Bell Centre lineup Montreal has been waiting for.