A new voice is taking over inside the Canadiens locker room
Josh Anderson opened up about Phillip Danault Friday, telling reporters his Canadiens linemate has finally found his voice inside the Montreal locker room.
The quote landed less than 24 hours before Game 2 in Carolina, with the Habs already up 1-0 in the Eastern Conference Final after a 6-2 statement win.
- Josh Anderson on Phillip Danault
That's a meaningful shift. Danault has spent this run playing some of his best hockey, with 2 goals and 6 assists over 15 playoff games at plus-6.
For a player who built his reputation on quiet, defensive work, the vocal turn matters. Montreal needed someone in that room who could talk during intermission and actually be heard.
You could see it in his face on the bench in Game 7. Calm, focused, working the room between shifts before that overtime winner sent the series back.
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Why Phillip Danault's leadership shift changes Montreal's series
Anderson's stretch tells its own story. 3 goals, 2 assists, plus-8 over 15 playoff games for a winger who finished the regular season at minus-4.
Martin St-Louis has leaned on that line all postseason. It's been one of Montreal's most consistent units against Buffalo's top end and now Carolina's heavy forecheck.
Game 1 in Raleigh on Thursday was a blowout in Montreal's favor. Six goals on the road against a team that built its identity on suffocating opponents inside their own rink.
The Habs got there with a 7-3-0 closing stretch to the regular season and a 48-24-10 record worth 106 points, sixth overall in the league.
But this run has been built less on talent and more on belief. Anderson saying out loud that Danault is talking more is the kind of locker room detail that doesn't show up in a box score.
Whether Carolina punches back in Game 2 or Montreal pushes the series to 2-0 on the road, the voice in that room is no longer just St-Louis behind the bench.
Danault, at 33, has finally taken the mic. The question now is whether Anderson's words are a small moment, or the start of something Montreal carries deep into June.
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YESTERDAY
MAY 22, 2026
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| G | A | PTS | ||
| Ivan Barbashev | 2 | 1 | 3 | |
| Jack Eichel | 1 | 1 | 2 | |
| Pavel Dorofeyev | - | 2 | 2 | |
| Ross Colton | 1 | - | 1 | |
| Rasmus Andersson | - | 1 | 1 | |
| Brent Burns | - | 1 | 1 | |
| Nazem Kadri | - | 1 | 1 | |
| Nick Blankenburg | - | - | - | |
| Dylan Coghlan | - | - | - | |
| Nic Dowd | - | - | - | |
| Jack Drury | - | - | - | |
| Noah Hanifin | - | - | - | |
| Carter Hart | - | - | - | |
| Tomas Hertl | - | - | - | |
| Brett Howden | - | - | - | |
| William Karlsson | - | - | - | |
| Parker Kelly | - | - | - | |
| Keegan Kolesar | - | - | - | |
| Kaedan Korczak | - | - | - | |
| Brett Kulak | - | - | - | |
| COMPLETE STATS | ||||