Training : Josh Anderson takes Jesse Ylönen’s place

The Montreal Canadiens held a training session this morning in preparation for tonight’s showdown with the Bruins in Boston.

First on the agenda was Josh Anderson, who traveled to Boston to rejoin the rest of the team after missing the last four games with an injury.

Not surprisingly, he was seen jumping on the ice with his teammates this morning.

The next thing to watch for was whether he’d be a regular in the lineup during practice, suggesting he’d make a return to action tonight.

Well, it quickly became apparent that Anderson was completing a trio with Jake Evans and Brendan Gallagher.

This means that the Habs’ number 17 should be back in action tonight.

If he does, a healthy player will have to be withdrawn from the lineup, and all indications are that it won’t be Joshua Roy, but rather Jesse Ylönen.

The Finnish forward is expected to lose his place in tonight’s line-up to Josh Anderson.

You’d think Michael Pezzetta would be the easy choice to pull out, but he had a solid game in Ottawa with a goal and a solid fight (won) against Zack MacEwen.

In short, Anderson’s return to action gives the Habs 13 healthy forwards, and so, with one healthy forward left out, Joshua Roy’s recall becomes formal and regular, not an emergency.

With Anderson on the second line, Rafaël Harvey-Pinard is demoted to the fourth line, along with Mitchell Stephens and Michael Pezzetta.

Obviously, the Roy – Monahan – Armia trio wasn’t going to be split up, which explains why RHP drops down to the fourth trio.

In front of the net, Samuel Montembeault gets the start against the mighty Bruins.

The three-goal rotation continues to be respected, even if Monty gets more starts overall.

Montembeault plays excellent hockey, and always gives his team a good chance of winning when he’s in front of the net.

A final note from training: Tanner Pearson also skated with his teammates.

In a flurry

– The Laval Rocket have really taken control of their season.

– We’re hoping for a quick, problem-free conclusion.

– A statistic that speaks volumes about Shane Wright’s season in the American League.

– To be continued.

– It’s off to a good start.