Nick Suzuki will always be a big piece of the team’s puzzle, with or without Kirby Dach. In the second game without a roof, the captain carried much of the offense on his shoulders in the 3-2 overtime win against the Washington Capitals.
• Also read: Capitals of Canadian: Martin St-Louis brings out the stick, the CH answers
• Also read: Cole Caufield closes the tally in overtime!
• Also read: Evander Kane publicly criticizes his coach’s decision
Suzuki set the tone for this meeting in the first half. On the power play, he found Sean Monahan with a perfect pass. Monahan simply had to leave his stick on the ice to hit Darcy Kuemper. It was a typical number 14 game.
He is at his best on the power play when he can control the puck at the top of the faceoff circle on the right side. He has scored several goals in the past by hitting a good wrist shot from here. Kuemper was probably expecting a shot from him, but he chose the other option with the pass to Monahan, who had both skates in front of the big Caps goaltender.
Then, in overtime, Suzuki got the assist for the winning goal, Cole Caufield’s. He took advantage of a quick zone exit from defender Mike Matheson to deliver a beautiful pass to his trusty partner in crime.
Caufield defeated Kuemper with a good shot. For the CH it was a sigh of relief. With this goal we could forget the Capitals’ comeback in the last ten minutes of the game.
Like the first game of the season in Toronto, the Habs had just blown a two-goal lead at the end of the game. But the result was more pleasing than the one against the Auston Matthews gang.
Reply to your trainer
In the locker room after the game against the Caps, Suzuki provided a very fair analysis of his own performance early in the season.
“I’ve been pretty bad in the last two games,” he told his colleagues at La Presse and The Athletic. I knew I had to play better to help the team win. Against Chicago I was going around in circles without getting anywhere, and against Minnesota it was the same. »
Martin St-Louis also sent a message to his captain last Thursday.
“Of course he has to be better. With the number of minutes he plays, he has to give us more. »
Although he doesn’t often criticize his players in public, in this particular case St-Louis chose his words perfectly.
At a press conference on Saturday evening, St-Louis answered an interesting question from a colleague who asked him if he made this foray into the media to lash out at his captain.
“I don’t want to lie when I talk to you,” St-Louis replied. Sometimes you ask me difficult questions. And I don’t want to lie. Before I said that, I had conversations with Suzie. He told me he had to play better. It’s not like I’m saying things he doesn’t know. I had no intention of igniting a spark with Suzie. I will never use the media to ignite a spark in a player. »
Forget the noises
The CH will return to a more traditional rhythm with four games this week, against the Sabers in Buffalo and then the Devils, Blue Jackets and Jets in Montreal.
Therefore, there will be fewer days off between games, leaving less room for over-analysis, as was the case after the visit of the Minnesota Wild.
Brendan Gallagher, who scored his first goal of the season against the Capitals, smiled as we talked to him about the analytics that are sometimes too abundant in a hot market like Montreal.
“When you play here you know that reality,” Gallahgher said. It is important to control the atmosphere in our locker room. We show up at the rink every day and have to forget what’s being said outside. It’s not always easy, but you have to act professionally and with maturity. »