Laine skates on his own at Habs' practice facility

Montreal Canadiens forward Patrik Laine continued his road to recovery on Tuesday, skating on his own at the CN Sports Complex in Brossard, Que. for the second time in four days.

Laine sustained a sprain to his left knee in the first period of a 2-1 preseason loss to the Toronto Maple Leafs on September 28. The 26-year-old had a knee-on-knee collision with Maple Leafs forward Cedric Pare.

He did not require surgery and his rehabilitation period is expected to be from two to three months.

Laine told reporters early last month that he opted against having surgery. “It was one of those you could go either way," he explained, adding he met with multiple doctors before making his decision. "I don’t think there’s ever any guarantees whether you do surgery or not…they did a good job of explaining the whole process and reassuring the chances are very high, that made me feel better about it."

Acquired on Aug. 19 from the Columbus Blue Jackets, Laine had six goals and nine points in 18 games last season with Columbus. He entered the NHL/NHLPA Players Assistance Program in January and was cleared to return in July. 

Selected second overall by the Winnipeg Jets in 2016, Laine scored a career-high 44 goals in 2017-18. He was traded to Columbus on Jan. 23, 2021 along with Jack Roslovic in exchange for Pierre-Luc Dubois. 

The Tampere, Finland native has appeared in 480 career NHL games, scoring 204 goals and 388 points split between the Jets and Blue Jackets.