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TSN : NHL - Canada's Sports Leader

The reeling Montreal Canadiens, losers of five straight games, got more bad news on Thursday. Forward Alex Kovalev will miss three weeks with an elbow injury.

On Saturday, Kovalev was benched by coach Guy Carbonneau for most of the third period after his turnover led to Mike Fisher's goal in a 5-3 loss to the Ottawa Senators.

After practice on Monday, Kovalev went to a Montreal hospital to have his elbow examined. He did not skate in practice on Tuesday before missing the Canadiens' 1-0 loss to Florida, and then sat out Wednesday's 5-2 setback in New Jersey.

Kovalev said the elbow has been bothering him for a couple of months, but has decided to rest it in hopes of coming back stronger for the end of the season.

''It wasn't too bad in the beginning and then it got worse and worse,'' Kovalev said.

Yes he was benched in last game played but I still think this is bad news for the Habs. There are struggling badly right now and with Kovalev out it makes things worse. There biggest problem right now is scoring and thats what Kovalev does. Hopefully he returns ASAP.