Josh Anderson: still no goal despite 76 minutes on the power play

And now, with yesterday’s game against the Los Angeles Kings, the Montreal Canadiens are already a quarter of the way through their 2023-2024 season, having played 21 games.

Didn’t that go by fast?

In short, a quarter of the season means a little balance sheet.

After 21 games this season, the Tricolore has a 9-10-2 record.

Under the circumstances of a rebuild now in its third season, that’s pretty respectable.

The team loses more often than not, but still manages to come away with big wins in often close games that end in overtime or shootouts.

The fact remains that when the CH loses, it doesn’t often come out on top, as evidenced by yesterday’s defeat in Los Angeles.

That’s on a team level.

On the individual level of each player on the team, other observations can be made.

Perhaps the most surprising and disappointing is the performance of Josh Anderson, who has yet to score a SINGLE GOAL in a quarter of the season.

OUCH.

For a guy like Josh Anderson, whose trademark is essentially scoring goals and creating lots of scoring chances, that’s pretty worrisome.

0 goals and just two assists in 21 games is awful, sure, but it’s even more so when you consider the amount of ice time Anderson got on the power play.

76 minutes.

Since the start of the season, even though he hasn’t scored a single goal, Anderson has been playing on the first wave of the power play with the team’s best players.

And it’s not as if the CH power play is all that horrible.

At 17.9% (20ᵉ in the NHL), it’s not famous, but it’s not atrocious either.

In short, Anderson has had plenty of chances to score goals this season, but it’s just not working, despite 76 minutes on the ice on power plays.

The first wave of N.A. should simply no longer be part of Anderson’s role at this point.

Let’s give Juraj Slafkovsky a chance to shine with the club’s top players, especially since he’s been performing better lately.

There’s been a lot of talk about Anderson’s lack of success precisely because it’s been going on since the start of the season, but overall, the CH’s forwards are running out of steam at the moment.

In short, the forwards will clearly have to give more, as the defensemen clearly won’t be able to keep up the current pace of offensive production.

Let’s see how the last three quarters of the Montreal Canadiens’ season unfold.

In a gust

– What do you think? I say Kevin Fiala.

– Things are going so well for Brock Boeser, as he’s healthy and stress-free.

– To be continued.

– Of course.

– Simply incredible.