Update on Evans, Petry and Merrill, and none of it is good news.

In the eyes of many the third round Stanley Cup Playoff series between the Montreal Canadiens and the Las Vegas Golden Knights is going to be an uphill battle for the Habs. One sportsbook even made the Golden Knights the largest betting favorite in a Stanley Cup Playoff semifinal in over 30 years last week, and unfortunately things will not get any better for the Canadiens ahead of Game 1.

On Monday the Canadiens hit the ice for their pre game skate just hours before facing the Golden Knights in Game 1 of this series and perhaps the most notable thing to come out of the skate were the updates on forward Jake Evans and defensemen Jeff Petry and Jon Merrill. Although all 3 men traveled with the team to Las Vegas, presumably with the hope that they would be ready to play if healthy enough, it would now appear as though none of the 3 will participate in Game 1 tonight.

All 3 players hit the ice on Monday, which is something of a good sign I suppose, however all three were sporting navy jerseys during their practice time. Those jerseys were non-contact jerseys which is almost always a sign that the player wearing it has not been deemed eligible to play. You can see them sporting their navy jerseys in the short video below, published by NHL reporter Mark Masters.

Evans was of course injured when he was the victim of a huge hit from Winnipeg Jets star forward Mark Scheifele, a hit that led to Scheifele being suspended for what remained of the Jets playoff run.

Petry on the other hand suffered a freak injury when his hand was caught in a camera hole that had been left open, causing two of his fingers to get jammed inside the hole as his forward momentum and body yanked against them. Although we don't know exactly what the extent of the injury to those two fingers is at this time, there are rumors that one or perhaps even both of his knuckles were badly damaged in the incident.

Last but not least, Merrill has been out for some time now with what remains an undisclosed injury.

No word yet on when the Canadiens can expect any of these guys back in the lineup however, given the fact that they have all traveled to Vegas, the Canadiens are clearly hopeful it will be sooner rather than later.