Islanders 3 – Canadian 5 | The great unlocking

The long-awaited release of Josh Anderson has finally arrived. The great winger ended his painful drought on Saturday. As Sean Monahan so eloquently said, “He was due for a night like this.” »

And it happened in a 5-3 win over the New York Islanders. What could be better ?

Although Martin St-Louis said a few weeks ago that Anderson was “back”, the goals were still slow in arriving. Anderson’s only goal of the season before Saturday came in an empty net. To be honest, the last success of number 17 in front of a goalkeeper dates back to March 13, 2023. It was starting to be a while ago.

The first sigh of relief came midway through the second period. After unintentionally blocking a shot from Justin Barron, Anderson recovered the puck and shot without hesitation, turning around. His low shot – he who had nevertheless practiced high shots in training! – made his way behind Semyon Varlamov.

Buoyed by an obvious increase in energy, the forward added a second goal at the end of the period: he recovered the puck at the top of the slot before rushing to the net like a horse, Mike Reilly on his back.

“It’s good to generate goals and help the team win, I’ve been saying that for a while. Who knows, maybe we would have won two or three more games, if I had taken those scoring chances, but hopefully I’ll get going from now on. »

If he plays like he did after his first goal, that bodes well. The winger took eight shots in the game, six of which reached the goalkeeper.

Widespread relief

Anderson wasn’t the only one relieved. His teammates were also for him.

“It’s even better than when you score yourself,” said Cole Caufield with a smile. “He does a lot of other things besides scoring and I think people are a little too interested in that. He’s such a good player for us. Obviously this will allow him to move on, so I’m excited. »

“Andy kept his head down, he continued to work and he was rewarded,” said Nick Suzuki. It’ll give him a spark, that’s for sure. »

Sensed by the reaction of his teammates, Anderson smiled. “It shows how good people we have in this locker room and how tight we are. It’s good to hear that. »

Another happy one: Martin St-Louis, who has been defending his attacker for several weeks.

“I’m proud of him,” said the head coach. He fought. It’s like everything else in life: when you give up, one thing is certain: you won’t get what you want. »

“Tonight, Josh was rewarded, I’m happy for him. »

The other happy ones, and not the least: the Montreal supporters. They gave Anderson a warm ovation when he was awarded the first star. A bit like they did on Wednesday, when the forward appeared in a shootout against the Pittsburgh Penguins.

You had to see the look on his face in front of the enthusiastic crowd.

“To see their support in the last evenings, it was honestly incredible,” he said. These are the kind of evenings you remember. It moved me a little on the ice, I won’t lie. It was a very special moment. »

As Monahan said: it was due.

In details

Paying “inside”

In training this week, Martin St-Louis insisted on the importance for his players to work more “inside”. Read here: inside the face-off points. He clarified that it was not just a question of taking shots in this paying zone, but of ensuring an effective and, above all, well-balanced presence there. . Cole Caufield’s goal was a prime example of this. Everything happened at lightning speed: turnaround caused by Juraj Slafkovsky, handed to Nick Suzuki, pass into the slot. Caufield stepped forward at the right time and was able to take a shot between the two faceoff circles. In recent weeks, we have seen the attacker multiply throws from impossible angles, without success. However, on this occasion, the winning conditions were met, and it worked. To repeat.

Slafkovsky the thief

We often talk about inaccuracy in the compilation of turnovers: the same goes for stolen pucks – takeaways, in English. The zero at the end of Juraj Slafkovsky’s name, on Saturday’s official match sheet, bears witness to this. The big winger was downright dominant in the opposing zone, particularly along the boards. Well served by his gigantic reach, he spent the evening complicating exchanges between opponents. It was his work in the back of the territory that directly led to Cole Caufield’s goal. “When you recover pucks, you have more touches and you feel better as the game goes on,” Caufield analyzed. It’s something he’s been doing a lot for a while. » Martin St-Louis saw the same thing, emphasizing that Slafkovsky has become “one of our best in forechecking.” “He’s 19 years old, he’s learning to play in the NHL without the puck. When you start teaching this to someone, they’re always going to have a little hesitation. […] I find that he has no hesitation in his game. He really understands how we want to play the five together. »

Another (almost) wasted lead

Has the four-goal lead become the new three-goal lead? The enormous cushion that CH had accumulated in the second period – “our best of the season”, according to goalkeeper Samuel Montembeault – melted away in the last third. So what looked like an easy victory turned into a 10^e winning by the margin of just one goal out of a total of 13 this season. Martin St-Louis recalled that his young team was still gaining experience. “The way we executed the game plan, in the first and second period, was excellent. But this plan is based on trends [des Islanders]. When a team loses 4-0, its tendencies are no longer the same. They play hockey like a schoolyard rink. We could have done a better job, that’s for sure, but we will continue to grow as a team by finding ourselves in these situations more often. »

Simon-Olivier Lorange, The Press