Montreal Canadiens: Josh Anderson Suspended For Two Games
The Montreal Canadiens are having a hard time figuring out what to do with all those forwards. They have been scratching three per night and it hasn’t been the easiest thing to do for head coach Martin St. Louis.
Michael Pezzetta, a gritty hard working winger has played just one game so far, sitting as a healthy scratch for the other 11. Rem Pitlick, Evgenii Dadonov and Jonathan Drouin have also cycled in and out of the lineup depending on the night.
There have been rumours of the team looking to trade away a winger or maybe Dadonov will just tear up his contract and head back to Russia after scoring zero points in eight games played. Decisions will be a little easier to make for St. Louis for the next two games.
That is because Josh Anderson will be out of the lineup, serving a two game suspension. The NHL department of player safety has handed down the punishment following a hit from behind delivered by Anderson on Alex Pietrangelo on Saturday night.
Anderson did hit Pietrangelo from behind into the boards halfway through the third period, but it seems a bit odd that he is banned for a pair of games. That is not to say Anderson is innocent, but that the NHL regularly allows hits from behind to go unpenalized and usually wait until someone is badly injured before they actually punish someone.
Pietrangelo was not injured on this play, and actually jumped right up and started swinging at Anderson in retaliation. Usually, a fine would be the punishment for a hit like this which did not result in an injury, but the wheel of randomness at the NHL department of player safety has spoken.
Anderson will miss Tuesday night’s game against the Detroit Red Wings and a home game on Wednesday night against the Vancouver Canucks.
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