Seven goals in the NHL for Juraj Slafkovsky in 25-26: already a personal best

Mathis Therrien
Seven goals in the NHL for Juraj Slafkovsky in 25-26: already a personal best
Credit: Getty Images

The Canadiens played a perfect game last night in their last Bell Centre game of 2025, winning 4-0 over the Pittsburgh Penguins.

It was a well-deserved victory, as all the Habs players contributed by playing a good game.

Jacob Fowler was excellent in front of the Habs net, earning his first career shutout in only his fourth NHL game.

He received a well-deserved standing ovation from the fans when he was on the ice for the game's first star.

And in addition to Fowler, I once again really enjoyed the play of Juraj Slafkovsky, who scored the winning goal in this victory.

Slaf scored the goal on the powerplay, making it seven this season, a personal career high so far.

Indeed, after just 35 games, Slafkovsky has already set a personal high with his seven powerplay goals, surpassing his six goals in 23-24.

What's more, this goal took the Slovakian to the ten-goal plateau, a plateau he reached after 55 games last season, 20 more than this season.

Getting back to the powerplay goals now, well, let's face it, Slafkovsky is an indispensable part of the first wave.

Yet many wondered why Martin St-Louis continued to trust Slaf on this first wave, and why he didn't replace him.

Well, the Habs' #20 has proven time and time again that he not only deserves his place in this first wave, but that he's also making a brilliant contribution.

Slafkovsky leads the Habs in power play scoring with seven goals, ahead of Nick Suzuki's six and Cole Caufield's three.

The young Slovak is therefore the top scorer on one of the best powerplays in the NHL, with an N.A. efficiency of 26.3%, good for fourth in the league.

The Habs' success in NA is therefore largely due to Slafkovsky's performance, and we have to give him a lot of credit.

Slaf has been playing inspired hockey for several weeks now, and his commitment, confidence, and talent shine through with every appearance.

The points aren't quite there yet, but that will come slowly, because Slaf is really excellent this season.

Now, what else can I take away from this perfect Habs victory?

1. The numerical inferiority was excellent against the NHL's third-best NA.

In fact, the Habs held their own last night on the short-handed, which explains much of the story of this game, because the Habs not only defended well, they scored.

Josh Anderson finally finished off a breakaway on a superb pass from Oliver Kapanen.

2. Owen Beck finally got his chance with a recall.

After surviving every other NHL recall since the start of his pro career, Owen Beck finally looks like he belongs in the NHL.

I'm not saying he's settled in, but I think he's playing good hockey, and managing to stand out and make things happen.

His magnificent goal last night is proof of that.

3. Oliver Kapanen continues to play big hockey for the Habs.

The Finn plays in every possible situation, and he does very well every time, like yesterday with his shorthanded play.

He served up a great pass to Josh Anderson and blocked two big one-man shots.

With 18:10 of ice time, Kapanen does everything right on the ice, and plays the role of second center really well.

In short, the Habs played a superb game, and will be looking to repeat that performance tonight against the Penguins, starting at 7 p.m. in Pittsburgh.


Overtime

– Interesting.

– It would be a shame.

– What do you think?

– To be continued.

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