Cayden Primeau: if training is anything to go by, he’ll be playing tomorrow

Josh Anderson’s last goal was on March 14. On that day, the Canadiens faced the Penguins in Pittsburgh.

Counting the last three games of last season, it’s now 22 games since the power forward last found the back of the net.

He’s still looking for his first goal of the season, and it’s not because he’s not trying to score. He has chances, but he’s just not able to put them in.

At today’s practice, held in San Jose in preparation for tomorrow’s game against the Sharks, Anderson took to the ice ahead of his team-mates to work alone.

The goal? To shoot pucks into the net.

There’s really no lack of effort in his case. He’s trying, and if he keeps trying, the puck will go in the net at some point.

I hope so, at least. Such long periods of lethargy can be devastating for a player’s confidence…

Josh Anderson out early before practice to shoot pucks in San Jose. pic.twitter.com/miYlzlfKYG

– Arpon Basu (@ArponBasu) November 23, 2023

Martin St-Louis’ men jumped on the SAP Center rink after last night’s win over the Ducks. Sean Monahan was absent due to a day of treatments, as announced by the Habs.

Better safe than sorry, right? Especially when we all know how fragile his body is…

It’s also interesting to note that Cayden Primeau had his own net in training. It’s safe to assume that he’ll be playing tomorrow, against the Sharks.

The San Jose outfit is struggling so far this season (3-15-1 record), and this would be a perfect match-up for the young goaltender.

Jake Allen hasn’t played since last Saturday (against the Bruins), but if Martin St-Louis really wants to win, it would make more sense to send him into the fray against the big Kings team on Saturday afternoon.

Cayden Primeau alone in net during training session

At the other end, Montembeault and Allen share a net.

An indicator that Primeau could be the starter tomorrow against the Sharks.

@RDSca pic.twitter.com/X3nQ8otSsi

– Patrick Friolet (@PFrioletRDS) November 23, 2023

Note that today’s practice was the last one for a while.

In fact, there’ll be no training tomorrow or on Saturday, as the club plays in the afternoon. And let’s not forget that the rookie dinner will be held on Saturday evening in Los Angeles.

The players will therefore have Sunday off. And since they take a certain number of days off per month, we can expect the club not to fly to Columbus on Sunday, because travel days don’t count as a day off.

Logically, we could see the Canadiens train in Los Angeles on Monday morning, before heading for Columbus.

In a gust

– Oops.

Lafreniere having a good start to the season, but Kaapo Kakko with just 3 pts in 17 games #NYR

– NHL Watcher (@NHL_Watcher) November 23, 2023

– The Leafs don’t know what’s going to happen with John Klingberg.

Some speculation today that John Klingberg’s season is over with #LeafsForever. That may well be the case but not definitive yet.

Leafs need more information on a path forward – rehab or surgery? Either way, he’s going to miss some time, hence the LTIR designation.

– Frank Seravalli (@frank_seravalli) November 23, 2023

– Candy for the ear canal.

This Date @Capitals History

Nov.23, 2007: Bruce Boudreau earned the win in his NHL coaching debut as #ALLCAPS beat #Flyers 4-3 in Overtime

Nicklas Backstrom, who was celebrating his 20th birthday, had the OT winner

Unused ticket stub below from the memorabilia collection pic.twitter.com/7aQs4ymPdB

– Ben Raby (@BenRaby31) November 23, 2023

–