Josh Anderson’s journey through the desert continues. The Montreal Canadiens forward hopes to use Wednesday’s game against his former team, the Columbus Blue Jackets, to get back on offense.
The veteran failed to score in his last 24 National Hockey League (NHL) games, including the 21 of the current season in which he participated, in no way justifying his seven-year, $38.5 million contract. Looking for his first goal since March 14, Anderson certainly tried to shake off his bad luck, but despite regular appearances on the power play unit, his 42 shots on goal came up short.
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Additionally, if he consults the Circuit Scorer column, the Habs’ standard-bearer had an interest in maintaining a good dose of humility. His two assists earned him a spot outside the NHL’s 540 most productive players. Almost everyone scored more points for the Canadian than he did. These include defender Johnathan Kovacevic (three goals) as well as Michael Pezzetta and Arber Xhekaj, who each scored one goal and two assists in 17 games. For his part, Christian Dvorak also has three points after playing just 11 games. Quebecer David Savard totaled two assists in five appearances before hitting the floor.
Ashamed
Elsewhere in the league, it’s just as humiliating for Anderson. Rugged Michael McCarron scored two goals for the Nashville Predators on Tuesday. Even the not-so-productive Matt Martin of the New York Islanders has made mistakes this season. Additionally, two goaltenders – Akira Schmid of the New Jersey Devils and Connor Ingram of the Arizona Coyotes – have the exact same record as him, namely two assists.
In fact, the Bleu-Blanc-Rouge number 17 is one of a group of seven forwards who have not achieved their goal in 20 or more games this year. The others are Max Domi, Nicolas Deslauriers, Jordan Martinook, Peyton Krebs, Ryan McLeod and Nico Sturm. However, they played significantly less than the Canadian figure skaters and were rarely in action for more than 15 minutes in a confrontation. Then Domi can still boast of having 11 assists to his name.