MONTREAL — Patrik Laine will make his regular-season debut for the Montreal Canadiens against the New York Islanders on Tuesday (7:00 p.m. ET; RDS, TSN2, MSGSN) at the Bell Center.

The forward was expected to miss two to three months after spraining his left knee in a collision with Toronto Maple Leafs forward Cedric Pare during a preseason game at the Bell Center on September 28. He opted out of surgery and began skating again on November 6th.

“If someone plays here and they’re not excited, I think there’s something wrong with them, so I don’t think that should be a problem,” Laine said. “I think the crowd will be excited as always and I hope we can excite them even more with the way we play tonight.”

Laine, who took part in his first practice with the Canadiens on Nov. 20, was on a line with Kirby Dach and Juraj Slafkovsky during Tuesday’s morning skate.

“I was kind of hoping I could start playing at home,” Laine said. “I probably could have played last week, but I wanted to do a few more practices and make sure I was ready when I finally played. But of course it will be cool to play here. I was watching too. “There are a lot of games up there now so I’m sure it will be great.”

Acquired in a trade with the Columbus Blue Jackets on August 19, Laine played his final regular-season NHL game with the Blue Jackets on December 14, 2023, when he suffered a broken collarbone. The 26-year-old forward has been under the care of the NHL/NHLPA Player Assistance Program since January 28th. He was removed from the program on July 26.

Laine, who scored 44 goals for the Winnipeg Jets in 2017-18, had nine points (six goals, three assists) in 18 games last season and has two seasons remaining on the four-year, $34.8 million contract (8. He signed on July 22, 2022.

He has 388 points (204 goals, 184 assists) in 480 games with the Blue Jackets and Jets and 16 points (eight goals, eight assists) in 24 Stanley Cup playoff games.

“You could feel the excitement from the fans, but he was excited too,” Canadiens coach Martin St. Louis said of Laine’s preseason play. “I know it was short-lived and I think he’s excited again tonight. I think he’s had the opportunity to really see how we want to play and I’m sure he can see himself in our concept when he watches games from above. “It’s not that you don’t get better , because you’re watching. So I think he’s now more prepared to attack whatever he wants to attack within our team concept because he’s observed enough.”