The Canadian | That damn first goal

Josh Anderson knew well, when he appeared before the media Monday after practice, that he would be asked to talk about his offensive production.

“We can’t hide it: I’m still trying to produce,” he said from the outset.

The big striker is indeed struggling to get the offensive machine going. After 11 games, he shows a slim point; an assist obtained in the second game of the season.

With Rafaël Harvey-Pinard, injured for a match, and Christian Dvorak, just recovered from an injury, Anderson is the only Canadian attacker who has not yet found the back of the net. An unusual fact in his case, he who has scored between 17 and 27 goals in his last six seasons, excluding the 2019-2020 pandemic season.

On Monday, the questions addressed to the big number 17 were all on this subject. The 29-year-old veteran did not try to escape.

“As a player, you want to produce in this league. I think, personally, the chances are there. At the start of the year, if I had scored on those big chances that I had, we wouldn’t be here talking about it. But that’s how it is. It’s part of the game.”

Anderson is not wrong; often at the start of the season, he was not able to take advantage of breakaways, in particular. As Martin St-Louis said, “he could have four or five goals” at this point.

“You didn’t score on those chances, the expectation is growing… I know that as a player, it’s not easy; it’s about continuing to work to get the first one. Once you get the first blow, the others will come. »

This is the first time in his career that Anderson has had a slow start. Take the last two seasons: after 11 games, he had 5 points (3 goals, 2 assists) in 2022-2023 and 6 points (3 goals, 3 assists) in 2021-2022.

“Josh is a proven guy who scores 20 goals a year,” added St-Louis. The year is long, he still produces quite a bit in sequence. When he scores one, he’s going to score a few. It’s only fair to go for the first one. »

With an average playing time of 16:52, including an average of 3:37 per game on the power play, it couldn’t be any other way. In the meantime, the striker is trying to help his team differently.

“As a player, I am very confident. I have all the tools. It’s just about going there and digging a little deeper; whether it’s going harder in the defensive zone, throwing more often or whatever. I have to face difficulties and fight. »

And that first goal, if it were to come soon, what would it look like?, a colleague asked him.

“Probably an emptying purpose!” Anderson replied, smiling. I have to go to the places where it hurts to try to find that purpose. »

Wazetraffic and destination

Just a few days ago, Juraj Slafkovsky was also one of the Habs players looking for his first goal. The big Slovak, who doesn’t always look comfortable and confident on the ice, finally scored on Saturday against the St. Louis Blues.

The day before, Martin St-Louis had been questioned about a possible dismissal of the young striker to Laval. To which he replied that it was not an “option currently being discussed”. On Monday, the head coach returned to the pressure put on the 19-year-old in recent weeks.

“Are you using the app? Waze ? » he said towards the journalists.

« Tu veux aller à une belle place, tu mets ton adresse dedans, ça te dit combien de temps ça va te prendre. Là, tu pognes du trafic. Il arrive quoi au temps ? Est-ce qu’il monte ou il descend ? Est-ce que tu tournes de bord ou tu continues ? Et si tu manques une sortie, es-tu en maudit et tu retournes chez vous, ou est-ce qu’[il] gives you a new route and you find yourself the same at your destination? »

“I live my life like that,” he continued. That’s what we do with Slaf. Slaf, he’s going to a beautiful destination. We don’t know exactly how long it will take. Sometimes there’s traffic and he shouldn’t get angry. Sometimes we will miss an outing, but we will get back on track. […] Is he going to be a first-line player? Second line? I do not know yet. And that’s okay. I know the destination is going to be beautiful. »

Brief appearance

Rafaël Harvey-Pinard, injured in his lower body, made a brief appearance at the start of training on Monday, but quickly left the ice. He did not return afterwards. The Quebec forward was injured during the game against the Arizona Coyotes and did not play the following game against the St. Louis Blues.

The Press