This game will live in many fans minds for a long time to come. It really had everything you could want in a hockey game. Physicality, skill, goals, fights, and, of course, the good guys one. Its one of the most exciting hockey game in years, especially for Habs fans. And Josh Anderson was a big part of that.
Josh Anderson is a force. He is the Power Horse. Standing at 6'3, weighing 226 pounds, Anderson is a big guy. And yet, he regularly hits a top speed of 23.63 mph, skating over 22 mph almost 30 times this season. That speed is usually reserved for the lighter skaters, but 226lbs skating at you at over 22 mph is terrifying.
And lately, Anderson has begun to use his size and speed to his advantage in different ways.
When drafted by the Columbus Blue Jackets in the 4th round of the 2012 NHL entry draft, he was seen as a worthwhile project, not putting up great point totals, but showing signs of the type of player he would become.
And as a member of the Blue Jackets, Anderson emerged as a power forward who could score and skate just as well, putting up career numbers in the 2018-19 season. But a slow start next season and heavy injury issues saw the Jackets move on, flipping Anderson for Max Domi.
As a Montreal Canadien, Josh Anderson had his ups-and-downs. He could never replicate his success in 2018-19, but steadily put up better numbers. Most of his highlights consisted of using his speed to the outside of defenders or getting breakaways and being unable to get a good shot off.
He was the type of player where it frequently looked like his feet outpaced his brain. Its one thing to move as fast as Anderson does. Its another thing to be able to react and do things at that speed, and it looked like Anderson could not keep up.
The 2023-24 season was a low point, where Anderson scored just 9 goals and 20 points in 78 games. For someone making an average of $5.5 million per year, and signed through the 2026-27 season, something would have to change.
Anderson did take a step forward in 2024-25 season offensively, upping his output to 15 goals and 27 points. But it wasn't his offensive output that made him standout this season, and Game 3 against the Washington Capitals.
In 2022-23, Josh Anderson made 139 hits. Last year, he laid out the body 169 times, and this year, he had 175. While his offense has run a bit dry, Anderson has evolved into something a bit more akin to a power forward of yester-year.
He formed an interesting line with Christian Dvorak and Brendan Gallagher, easily three of the oldest forwards on the Habs roster. But at times, especially later down the stretch, the line had carried a good amount of the offense.
But perhaps the strongest impact that that line has on the game, is that generally they will come out early in the game, and Anderson will try to perform a massive hit. It works two-fold, letting the opponents know that they Habs have come to play physically, and it also gets the team into the game.
And in the playoffs, getting involved physically is more important than ever. Especially when facing a player like Tom Wilson, one of the nastier customers in the league.
As he did all throughout this year, Josh Anderson laid the body early and often. And Tom Wilson had a target on his back, but needed to watch out for Xhekaj and Anderson both. Xhekaj played the mind games before the game started with his shenanigans at the redline during the warm-up skate, and Anderson made sure the message came across during the game.
Anderson was all over the game, throwing the body, skating like the wind, and slowly getting on the nerves of Tom Wilson.
Wilson is a really important part of the Washington Capitals team, especially in this, his career year. Wilson scored 33 goals and 65 points this season and is the spark-plug on this Washington team.
But then the second period ended. And everything fell apart. While the players were exciting the ice, someone ran into someone, and the tempers that had been brewing after this physical start and inconsistent refereeing, completely boiled over.
First off, Wilson tried to get tangled up with Xhekaj, but was pulled off him by Josh Anderson, and the two brawled. The Capital's bench door opened, and the two, with linesman in tow, fought their way all the way across the bench.
I can't remember any time that something like this happened. The only thing wilder might be when Tie Domi fought a fan in the penalty box, or when Mike Millbury ventured into the crowd and beat a fan with his own shoe.
But after much deliberation by the refs, it was determined that both Josh Anderson and Tom Wilson would serve 12 minutes of penalties in the third period. So now Washington has to try to come back without one of their best players.
The image of Tom Wilson fake crying at the end of it all will live forever in hockey, much like Wilson posing in the penalty box after a brawl against the New York Rangers. The man is nothing but iconic.
Wilson had the last laugh against New York, and time will tell on whether Washington or Montreal will move on, but to me the move felt a little desperate. Hilarious, but how about you let your fists do the talking, and not ask so tough after getting pulled apart by the refs.
Its fair to say that Josh Anderson has planted himself firmly into the minds of the Washington Capitals, and his roots go deep. He was trending this way all year, but has reached the peak in Game 3.
While he doesn't have any points, and if you don't look anywhere past the scoresheet, you wouldn't know, but the Montreal Canadiens could not have won that game with Josh Anderson, and no one on the team could have even come close to being able to do what Josh Anderson did.