HabsWorld.net -- 

Brendan Gallagher is ready to return to the lineup as on Thursday, team doctors gave him the green light to play in the Winter Classic. To make room for him on the active roster, the team assigned Sven Andrighetto to St. John’s.

Gallagher has missed the last 17 games after suffering two broken fingers while blocking a shot from the Islanders’ Johnny Boychuk. Despite all the time missed, he still sits tied for sixth in team points, with 19 (9-10-19) in 22 games.

Michel Therrien is wasting little time throwing Gallagher back into the fire as he skated in practice on the number one line alongside Max Pacioretty and Tomas Plekanec, a trio that spent the majority of their time together when Gallagher was healthy.  Gallagher will have extra padding in his left glove to protect his fingers.

Andrighetto has suited up in 14 games for the Habs so far this season, picking up four goals and an assist while averaging 12:14 of ice time per night. Interestingly, Andrighetto’s demotion comes just days after he set a new career high in ice time when he played 16:01 in Monday’s win over Tampa Bay. He should be available to play on Thursday night for the IceCaps in Binghamton against the Senators.

Andrighetto’s demotion opens up a little more than $343,000 on the cap. Click here for the updated cap projections.

Montreal’s lines from Thursday’s practice:

Pacioretty – Plekanec – Gallagher
Eller – Galchenyuk – Carr
Fleischmann – Desharnais – Weise
Byron – Mitchell – Flynn

Beaulieu – Subban
Markov – Petry
Emelin – Barberio

The team also confirmed that, as expected, Mike Condon will get the start against the Bruins on Friday afternoon.