The Montreal Canadiens and Tampa Bay Lightning enter Game 5 of their first-round series tied 2-2, with all four games decided by a single goal and the first three going to overtime.
Through the first half of the series, both teams have matched each other, scoring 11 goals each and turning the series into a best-of-three affair.
Montreal, however, navigated those games without one of its better defensemen in Noah Dobson. He suffered a thumb injury in mid-April and missed the remainder of the regular season.
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The situation got a new update on Wednesday morning.
TSN's Pierre LeBrun reported on X that Dobson “just jumped on the ice at Habs optional skate,” marking another positive step in his recovery.
Per Patrick Guillet, Dobson already spent "more than 50 minutes" skating on the ice on Tuesday, which points toward a recent increase in his workload and a potential return later in the playoffs. That said, the Canadiens have not shared any timetable for that.
Dobson appeared in 80 games during the regular season, scoring 12 goals and recording 47 points while posting a plus-5 rating in his first year in Montreal.
Game 5 is scheduled for Wednesday at 7 p.m. ET in Tampa, with Game 6 set for Friday at the same time in Montreal.
