Canadiens' shot-blocking star Noah Dobson to miss start of playoffs with upper-body injury

The Montreal Canadiens will start the Stanley Cup playoffs with a major hole on their blue line.

Defenceman Noah Dobson will be re-evaluated in two weeks after suffering an upper-body injury in Saturday's 5-2 loss to the visiting Columbus Blue Jackets. That rules him out for at least the opening stretch of the post-season.

The Canadiens announced the news Sunday after Dobson blocked a Zach Werenski slap shot with his left hand in the second period and did not return.

"It sucks, we're worried about him for sure and he's such a big part of our team," defenceman Lane Hutson said after the game. "He plays big minutes for us, plays against the top competition, shuts down some really high-end players on the other side and pitches in pretty good offensively, too. He does it all for us.

"A lot of the little things he does go unnoticed, but not by our group."

Dobson has averaged the third-most ice time (22 minutes 29 seconds) on the playoff-bound Canadiens, behind Mike Matheson and Hutson.

The 26-year-old from Summerside, P.E.I., has 12 goals and 47 points in 80 games for the playoff-bound Canadiens this season, his first in Montreal after being acquired from the New York Islanders last summer and signing an eight-year, $76-million US extension.

Often tasked with the toughest assignments alongside Matheson, the six-foot-four, 200-pound defenceman also leads the NHL in blocked shots, recording his 188th on the play that ultimately sidelined him.

"He plays big minutes, great on breakout, transition, he kind of can do it all," head coach Martin St. Louis said. "I was surprised that he leads the league in blocked shots, which was another element, so he brings a lot."

In a corresponding move, the Canadiens recalled defenceman David