“I was emotional on the ice, I’m not going to lie” – Josh Anderson thanking the fans after a two-goal game

Maybe it’s not a coincidence. Last Wednesday, Josh Anderson received a huge wave of love when he took the ice as the 12th skater in the Endless Shootout. Penguins goaltender Alex Nedeljkovic is undefeated.

In the next match, Anderson scored two goals. For the first time this season he beat a goalkeeper. He did it twice against Semyon Varlamov in a 5-3 win over the New York Islanders on Saturday at the Bell Center.

Yogi Berra, the former glory of the New York Yankees, actually said it in one of his legendary statements: “Baseball is 90% mental. The other half is physical.”

We’ll forgive Berra’s mathematical error, but we’ll remember that sports are often played between the ears. In baseball, as in hockey.

For Nick Suzuki, there is no coincidence. The spontaneous reaction of the fans to the last game against the Penguins gave his teammate momentum.

“It definitely helps,” Suzuki replied. When an audience sticks with you through tough times, you feel better. I liked the reaction of our fans during the penalty shootout on Monday. Our fans are amazing. “They wanted to help him get out of his hole.”

Best supporters

Anderson, who scored his first goal of the season in the 25th game of the year in an empty net against the Seattle Kraken, hesitated when asked if it was just a coincidence that he opened the scoring with two goals in the first game after that famous one. A standing ovation in the shootout against the Penguins.

“I don’t know. Maybe. Maybe that’s the case.”

After a short pause, Number 17 continued his response.

“I found it special in the last game against the Penguins. Sometimes, as a player, when you’re going through tough times, you don’t expect a reaction like that from the crowd. But I’ve been saying that since my first day with the Canadiens, and even when I played in Columbus, I always considered it The Bell Center crowd is the best in the NHL, and the Canadians rely on the most passionate supporters.

Anderson was named the first star against the Islanders, and received a standing ovation during his on-ice interview with teammate Renaud Lavoie.

“Just seeing their encouragement over the last few games, I find it simply amazing,” Ontario said. I will never forget this. I was emotional on the ice, I’m not going to lie. These were special moments. I know the fans have had a tough time over the last few seasons, but they have been patient and continue to cheer us on.

Five goals from the attackers

There are two goals scored by Anderson, but there is also useful contribution from the strikers. They scored all five goals in this win. Joel Armia, Cole Caufield and Christian Dvorak, in an abandoned cage, also colored the score sheet black.

CH needed an offensive awakening for its attackers. One evening, that was the case. Nick Suzuki’s trio (with Caufield and Slavkowski) had a solid game, spending most of the time in enemy territory during the first two periods.

The Habs also got off to a very good start in this game, dominating the Islanders for the first 40 minutes. They were 4-for-0 on the scoreboard, but also 36-for-16 in the shots column.

But Al Jazira terrified their opponents by scoring three goals in the third period. The Canadian bent without breaking.

“We didn’t want to give up a shorthanded goal early in the third period and the Islanders scored another quick goal,” Suzuki noted. We haven’t played with a big lead in a long time. We came out flat for the third. “We have stopped working, and we cannot feel very confident.”

After the second goal scored by Brock Nelson and the score 4 to 2, Martin St. Louis had the good idea to calm his troops down by calling a timeout.