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Josh Anderson: 'strong chances' of seeing him play tonight

Originally posted on Dose.ca | Last updated Jan 13, 2026 2:10 PM ET

When the Canadiens headed for Washington without recalling a forward, we suspected that this meant that Josh Anderson was indeed on the mend.

After all, apart from him, the Canadiens only have 12 healthy forwards.

And now we learn that Josh Anderson will take part in tonight’s warm-up game in Washington. So there’s a good chance he’ll play.

Strong chance that Josh Anderson will play tonight. All players will be in the warm-up period. Decisions will be made afterwards. @CanadiensMTL @TVASports

– Renaud Lavoie (@renlavoietva) January 13, 2026

All players will participate in the warm-up period. Does that mean there’ll also be a blur regarding the identity of the club’s sixth defenseman or what?

But back to Anderson.

There’s a world in which he warms up before the game, but realizes he’s not feeling well. However, under the circumstances, chances are good that the Habs will be able to count on the return of their sturdy forward.

If so, Owen Beck is a candidate to skip his turn for tonight’s game.

In net, no one will be surprised to learn that Samuel Montembeault will be the starting goaltender. He flew to Washington ahead of time so as not to fly in the middle of the night and get a good night’s sleep.

It wasn’t out of Christian charity: it was to get him to play.

Monty gets the start against Washington

Monty gets the start against the Caps#GoHabsGo pic.twitter.com/bBio7Sx163

– Montreal Canadiens (@CanadiensMTL) January 13, 2026

I wouldn’t be surprised, if the trend continues, to see Jacob Fowler start on Thursday against the Sabres and the Québécois face the Sens on Saturday night.

But we’ll see in due time.