Tag: Josh Anderson

The Maple Leafs started the season the way they ended every playoffs, by melting down

Usually, the Leafs choke in the playoffs, not the regular season!

At this point, a devastating Maple Leafs’ loss in some shape or form should probably be expected. With one of the more talented cores in the NHL, Toronto has basically made it a time-honored tradition to waste that talent come the spring when the playoffs roll around.

On Wednesday night, during their season opener against the Canadiens (+200), the Leafs pivoted somewhat and started the year with a meltdown.

In a back-and-forth battle, Toronto seemingly couldn’t shake Montreal, taking the lead twice and surrendering it … twice in the second period. When the closing stanza came around, the Canadiens took the advantage with a 3-2 lead before the Leafs would tie it up in the final few minutes.

It seemed like we’d be heading for overtime until a Josh Anderson shot found the back of the net, on new goal Matt Murray no less, with roughly 17 seconds on the clock:

How glorious and painful, at the same time, to lose to Montreal 4-3 in such a fashion. The Leafs couldn’t even contain themselves enough not to blow a potential win one game into their season. If this is how the Toronto 2022-2023 campaign begins, it might be another eventual agonizing year for the Leafs.

Canadiens stave off elimination in the Stanley Cup Final after Josh Anderson’s gutsy overtime goal

Montreal extends the series on Anderson’s second of the game.

The Montreal Canadiens will live to play another day of hockey thanks to Josh Anderson. With their backs against the wall in Game 4 against the Tampa Bay Lightning facing down a potential sweep, Anderson had not one but two huge goals for Montreal to kick the series back to Florida.

Anderson’s second came in a pivotal moment in overtime, just mere minutes after the Canadiens killed a double minor Lightning power play. Less than four minutes into the extra frame, Anderson beat the Lightning to the puck in the offensive zone and muscled a pass over to Cole Caufield in front of the net.

When Caufield couldn’t get it done on the backhand, Anderson got back in the play and scored the game winner while falling over at the side of the net, beating Andrei Vasilevskiy to keep the series alive.

Here’s how Canadiens fans reacted to the season-saving goal from Anderson outside at the Bell Centre.

What a gutsy sequence from Anderson to keep Montreal in the series for at least another game. The Canadiens finally looked to be playing their style of hockey in Game 4, even scoring the opening goal for the first time in the series thanks to Anderson’s first.

Montreal still has a long way to go to get back in this series, but thanks to Anderson they’ll be playing at least one more game.

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