The Lightning will have to be careful not to upset Josh Anderson

Michaël Petit
The Lightning will have to be careful not to upset Josh Anderson
Credit: Patrick Smith/Getty Images

The Montreal Canadiens players held their final practice in Quebec before the start of the first round against the Tampa Bay Lightning.

My colleague Charles-Alexis Brisebois was on site, while my other colleague Mathis Therrien wrote an article about what happened at this morning's practice.

In short, there was still no sign of Noah Dobson returning, and that could hurt the Habs. On the Lightning side, Victor Hedman is still sidelined.

In fact, the towering veteran defenseman has started skating again, according to comments from Jon Cooper reported by Pierre LeBrun. He'll join the team for Game 3 in Montreal, but no specific return date has been set yet.

Both teams could be without an excellent defenseman for much of the first round… unless one of the teams has a surprise up their sleeve?

In addition to the two defensemen in question, several players will play a key role on both teams.

If there's one player I'm most looking forward to seeing play for the Habs in the playoffs, it's Josh Anderson. He proved his worth in last year's series against the Washington Capitals, and we'll need that version of Anderson against Tampa Bay.

In the last matchup between the Habs and the Bolts, we saw Anderson dish out a beating to Declan Carlile. That's when you realize Tampa Bay is better off not crossing the Habs' #17, or else…

Elliotte Friedman actually mentioned this in his latest 32 Thoughts article.

Physical play will always play a major role in the playoffs. We saw that against the Capitals last year when they roughed up the Habs.

As for Josh Anderson, physical play is part of his identity as a player. He has always excelled at protecting the puck, finishing his checks, winning battles for the puck along the boards, and so on.

And when he gets riled up, he gets nasty… really nasty. That's partly why the Lightning must avoid provoking him at all costs, because it could very well cost them the series.

Of course, it's not all about Anderson. Every player will have to do their part, but Anderson's physical presence will certainly be crucial for the Habs.


In a nutshell

– Interesting…

– He's back.

– Must-read.

– Well.

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