The Canadian has taken hits many times this season. Fans often left the Bell Center either disappointed or elated.
It took 53 games, but we finally had the first perfect night of the season: a lopsided 5-0 win.
There's nothing to be upset about, some might say. It was just the Ducks. A bad team with 30 employeese Bettman Circuit Rank.
This is true. But it still wasn't a given, considering the Canadian had suffered defeat in each of the last four times he faced a team in a worse situation than his own.
Even Brandon Gignac got in on the fun, scoring his first NHL goal.
Brandon Gignac scores his first NHL goal… at the Bell Center! –
The duo of the hour?
On Tuesday night, Nick Suzuki and his linemates made sure an embarrassing scenario didn't happen again.
The Canadian captain, who was named the NHL's third star last week, continued his momentum.
He added two goals and an assist to his tally, extending his streak of games with at least one point to eight.
Slafkovsky and Suzuki get two: 50th point for captain –
Juraj Slafkovsky also finished the night with three points. Slovak is now less predictable. The fact that he's taking more shots now forces opponents to be vigilant when grabbing the puck.
Now Suzuki feeds Slafkovsky! –
The goalkeeper can no longer cheat for fear that Slafkovsky will decide to shoot, which makes his cross passes even more effective. So he fed Suzuki the last three goals he set up for him.
Slafkovsky has now picked up at least one point in his last six appearances. It works in the medium term. Additionally, the 19-year-old forward has accumulated 19 points in his last 22 games. That's one more than the total of his first 70 games in the NHL.
Complete dominance
The Canadian's first unit completely dominated this game. In total, Slafkovsky (7), Suzuki (9) and Cole Caufield (15) made 31 shot attempts.
One wonders if they even used their skates in defensive territory once.
It must be said that in addition to their regular even strength play, they were tasked with playing virtually every second of the massive Montreal attack along with Alex Newhook.
The second session was limited to crumbs (approximately fifty seconds over 10 minutes). Let's assume that we lose quality with Josh Anderson, Jesse Ylönen and Tanner Pearson.
It's fun to watch, but at the risk of repeating myself, it shows a glaring lack of offensive depth for the Habs. Slafkovsky and Suzuki have also scored 11 of the Habs' last 15 goals.
Slafkovsky does all the work for Suzuki! –
The only exceptions are Michael Pezzetta, Joel Armia, Jake Evans and Gignac.
Relief for Primeau
Yes, the ducks were easy prey. The best proof of this is the 13 shots they aimed at Cayden Primeau. The Canadian had allowed no fewer than 20 shots at opponents since the start of the season. He hadn't gotten the opponent out of the way either.
It's an evening that will undoubtedly do Primeau very good. To that point, the American goaltender had suffered a loss in each of his three games at the Bell Center, with a 5.09 goals against average and a .856 save percentage.
On Tuesday, he signed the first shutout of his career.
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