MONTREAL - Josh Anderson scored twice to help the Canadiens build a lead Saturday night.
asserted
Canadiens → score → lead
His willingness to put his body on the line preserved it.
asserted
willingness → put → it
Anderson made his biggest play of the night with 50 seconds remaining, laying out to block an Erik Karlsson slap shot while defending a one-goal advantage against a six-on-five attack from the Pittsburgh Penguins.
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Anderson → make → Penguins
And Montreal held on for a 5-4 victory — its fifth straight.
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Montreal → hold → victory
“That’s the winning culture,” said Anderson, who also tallied an assist.
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who → ’ → assist
“You want to have championship habits.
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You → want → habits
You gotta get in shot lanes.
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You → got → lanes
That’s a big part of the winning culture that we’re trying to build.
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we → ’ → that
“Everyone’s gotta do it.
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Everyone → get → it
It’s not fun, but you’ve gotta do it.”
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you → ’ → it
The Canadiens (9-3-2) blocked 22 shots to lessen the load on rookie goalie sensation Jacob Fowler, a sign of the winning habits they’ve developed after an early-season stretch marked by blown leads.
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they → block → leads
“Sometimes that’s what it takes,” head coach Martin St. Louis said.
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Louis → ’ → what
“The guys blocked a ton of shots, and that helped us win the game.”
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that → block → game
Not only are the Canadiens winning, but they’re on a five-game streak without several key players.
Captain and first-line centre Nick Suzuki is out for the first time in his career with a hand injury, skilled winger Ivan Demidov hasn’t played since Oct. 3, and fleet-footed defenceman Mike Matheson will miss two weeks with a lower-body injury.
“
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Matheson → win → injury
It’s the next-man-up mentality,” Anderson said.
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Anderson → ’ → ?
“We’ve got some huge pieces that are not in our lineup that we’re looking forward to getting back, hopefully pretty soon here.”
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we → get → that
One of the players to step up was Owen Beck, called up from the AHL in Suzuki’s absence.
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One → step → absence
The 22-year-old centre raised the roof midway through the second period when he finished a hard hit on Penguins defenceman Kaedan Korczak, then pummelled forward Blake Lizotte in his first NHL fight.
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he → raise → fight
“He looks like an NHL player,” St. Louis said.
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Louis → look → player
“He’s knocking on the door.
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He → knock → door
He brings a lot.
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He → bring → lot
St. Louis also credited Beck’s assist on Montreal’s opening goal with sparking the Canadiens in a game they could have dropped after an undefeated four-game Western road trip.
uncertain
they → credit → trip
Pittsburgh came out strong with Karlsson teeing up a one-timer to open the scoring on the power play at 2:08 in the first period, but the Canadiens swiftly replied with two goals 24 seconds apart.
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Canadiens → come → goals
Oliver Kapanen beat a shaky Sergei Murashov after Beck found him on the rush at 2:41, before Anderson picked off Hendrix Lapierre’s breakout pass and ripped a shot into the top-right corner.
“You win four in a row, you come back home, it’s not easy to win another.
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it → beat → another
It’s not easy to keep winning in this league,” St. Louis said.
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Louis → ’ → league
“We had a big game from our young line.
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We → have → line
It made us breathe a little bit, and then we took off.”
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we → make → ?
Anderson’s line, alongside Jake Evans and Chris Kreider, also left its fingerprints all over the win.
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line → leave → win
Kreider had one goal and one assist in arguably his best showing since the Canadiens signed the veteran winger in September.
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Canadiens → have → September
He and Evans finished plus-4, while Anderson was plus-3 as the line combined for eight of Montreal’s 27 shots.
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line → finish → shots
“We needed a big night,” Anderson said.
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Anderson → need → night
“We struggled over the last few games, but I like the way we responded as a line, as a team.”
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we → struggle → team
GLOVES OFF
Beck, who has fought three times in the AHL and twice in the Ontario Hockey League, was asked if his bruising second-period shift was his most physical in the NHL.
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shift → fight → NHL
“Hard to disagree,” he said, laughing.
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he → disagree → ?
“I’m willing to do anything to be a part of this team and help the boys any way I can.
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I → ’m → boys
It doesn’t happen often, but sure as hell is fun when they come off.
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they → happen → hell
SID THE KID
Penguins captain Sidney Crosby tallied one goal and two assists after receiving a loud ovation from the Bell Centre crowd when he was announced in the starting lineup.
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he → tally → lineup
His 1,113 career assists are now the most with one franchise in NHL history, passing Boston Bruins great Ray Bourque.
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assists → pass → Bourque
The 39-year-old centre also tied Marcel Dionne for sixth on the all-time scoring list with 1,771 career points.
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centre → tie → points
“I’ve been pretty fortunate to be a part of this organization for a really long time,” Crosby said.
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Crosby → say → time
…and 11 more, not listed.
The Aporia
