A Winning Habit
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Montreal Canadiens: 7 Talking Points

By Sebastian High

MONTREAL, QC - FEBRUARY 04: Carey Price #31 of the Montreal Canadiens tends goal against the Ottawa Senators during the first period at the Bell Centre on February 4, 2021 in Montreal, Canada. The Ottawa Senators defeated the Montreal Canadiens 3-2. (Photo by Minas Panagiotakis/Getty Images)
MONTREAL, QC - FEBRUARY 04: Carey Price #31 of the Montreal Canadiens tends goal against the Ottawa Senators during the first period at the Bell Centre on February 4, 2021 in Montreal, Canada. The Ottawa Senators defeated the Montreal Canadiens 3-2. (Photo by Minas Panagiotakis/Getty Images) /
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DRUMMONDVILLE, QUEBEC, CANADA – NOVEMBER 3: Jonathan Drouin #27 of the Halifax Mooseheads waits for a face-off during the QMJHL game against the Drummondville Voltigeurs at the Centre Marcel Dionne on November 3, 2012 in Drummondville, Quebec, Canada. (Photo by Richard Wolowicz/Getty Images) /

3. Jonathan Drouin and Josh Anderson

I feel pretty confident in the assessment that the first period against the Jets featured the most dominant Jonathan Drouin since his trade to the Canadiens. He was dynamic, dangerous and decisive. He set up Josh Anderson at the goalmouth after cutting straight through the center of the Jets’ defence and sending a nice pass to the right-winger. He assisted Joel Armia’s second goal following good positioning and a perfect pass. He was a difference-maker.

I love Drouin and have really appreciated his hustle this season. He has been much-improved, but he has not been a difference-maker, just a solid top-6 winger. The Drouin we saw on Thursday was something else entirely. He seemed confident and free to use his skill set. Did anyone else notice that he was far more willing to shoot? He seems completely comfortable and at ease playing under Dominic Ducharme, the coach he excelled under with the Halifax Mooseheads, the coach under which he outscored Nathan MacKinnon.

This is not to say he will ever come near MacKinnon’s level, he won’t, but with Ducharme at the helm, there is the possibility of him becoming a far more effective and dangerous offensive weapon. I do not think that a 20-goal, 75-point season is unachievable for the Ste-Agathe-des-Monts native. More importantly, however, I think that the likelihood of Drouin remaining a facilitator on his line with Suzuki and Anderson has really diminished, I think he’s going to take initiative and be a difference-maker.

Let’s shift gears a little bit. Josh Anderson has been everything this team hoped for and more. He’s incredibly involved, physical and quick and has scored 9 goals in 19 games. One thing worries me, however, and it’s not something that worried me prior to the season: his health.

I was not one of the people stressing about Anderson being injury-prone, after all, it was just one injury that was re-aggravated. This season though, he has left three games without returning. One was a Covid concern, and two were due to weird falls along the boards behind the opposing net. The first was the result of his barreling down the wing and running into the boards, while the second, in Winnipeg, was the result of an unintentional Dylan Demelo slew-foot.

Every time Anderson takes a fall I get worried. It is far too early in his contract to label him as injury-prone, and he hasn’t even missed a game, but I hope he just takes his enthusiasm down by a percent or two because we saw exactly what happens when he is out of the lineup on Thursday, he has quickly become an integral part of this team. The Canadiens need him healthy

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