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Montreal Canadiens News

Evans will make his NHL debut on Thursday.

Evans was a seventh-round pick in 2014 and has scored 12 goals with 22 assists (34 points) in 48 AHL games this season. With Ryan Poehling and Jordan Weal both sick, the 23-year-old will make his NHL debut on the third line with Max Domi and Ilya Kovalchuk.

Jake Evans
The Wild have recalled Kaapo Kahkonen from Iowa (AHL) under emergency conditions.

There is no word if Devan Dubnyk or Alex Stalock are dealing with injuries but it could be related to the personal reasons that forced Dubnyk to leave the team earlier in the year. The 23-year-old Kahkonen has gone 13-3-1 with a 2.56 GAA and .906 SV% in 17 AHL games this season.

Kaapo Kahkonen
Byron (knee) is expected to miss four more games.

Byron appeared to be close to returning to the lineup when he was a full participant in Friday's practice, but he'll remain in Montreal while the team travels to Western Canada next week. Ryan Poehling will remain in Montreal's lineup with Byron out.

Paul Byron
Matheson will be a healthy scratch on Thursday.

Matheson has had a tough season so far, scoring just one goal with two assists in 25 games. Matheson played just 13:41 TOI on Tuesday and will be scratched in favour of Mark Pysyk on Thursday night. Coach Quenneville called it “not an easy thing to do," especially when you consider that Matheson has seven years left on a deal that carries a $4.875M AAV cap-hit.

Mike Matheson
Kahkonen will start Thursday vs. the Oilers.

Kahkonen allowed two goals on 33 shots in the Wild's shootout loss to the Ducks on Tuesday. Kahkonen has been simply spectacular since coming up from the AHL, going 2-0-1 with a 1.95 GAA and .947 SV% in his first three career starts. It's never easy to face Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl but you can do worse than Kahkonen on Thursday night.

Kaapo Kahkonen