Goals per game: Juraj Slafkovský is a completely different player in big games

Félix Forget
Goals per game: Juraj Slafkovský is a completely different player in big games
Credit: Minas Panagiotakis/Getty Images

Last night, the Canadiens beat the Lightning. In doing so, they took a 1-0 lead in the series… and stole home-ice advantage.

And in the process, they sowed doubt in the minds of the Lightning players.

Obviously, a lot of the credit for this win goes to Juraj Slafkovský. He didn't necessarily have the best start to the game, but he dominated the final 30 minutes of the contest, scoring three of his team's four goals.

All of this means that Slaf now has five goals in six career NHL playoff games. And in the Olympics—where the stakes are significantly higher—he has 11 goals in 13 games.

And that's when you realize that the Slovakian is truly, truly cementing his reputation as a big-game player. The numbers don't lie: in terms of goals-per-game average, he's a whole different beast when the stakes are high.

Obviously, the regular-season numbers above reflect his early days in the NHL, when he was still struggling to find his rhythm. That said, even if we look at his regular-season pace this year (30 goals in 82 games), it's a far cry from his pace in big games, where he has 16 goals in 19 games.

And that's not even counting the fact that his impact isn't (really) limited to his goals: he's capable of playing physically and taking control of the action on the ice.

We know that at 5-on-5, it wasn't easy for Slafkovský and his line yesterday. That said, he was still the one who stepped up on the power play and helped his team take the lead in the series.

When they drafted him first overall in 2022, the Habs saw Slafkovský as a player who would be a key part of their future playoff success: so far, it's hard to say they were wrong.


In a nutshell

– That's true.

– What do you think?

– Interesting.

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