Nick Suzuki Returns: The Canadiens Find Their Stride Again

Charles-Alexis Brisebois
Nick Suzuki Returns: The Canadiens Find Their Stride Again
Credit: Getty Images

Would the Canadiens have won last night's game against the Mammoth without Nick Suzuki?

It's a valid question, even if we'll never know the answer. After all, it's purely hypothetical: the captain was indeed back on the ice last night.

Has his “Iron Man” streak resumed?

But even though the Canadiens have found ways to win on a very regular basis without their captain, it was good to see him back in uniform last night.

Suzuki was named the game's first star (Logan Cooley would have deserved it, but oh well) thanks, in particular, to his three points.

The captain performed well at the faceoff circle and was the forward Martin St-Louis relied on the most. He logged over 20 minutes (20:04) on the ice.

In short, he did his job on the ice and made his teammates better. No surprise there.

But he's not the only player we need to talk about when it comes to analyzing the Canadiens' 5-4 overtime win against Salt Lake City.

What should we be talking about?

1. The players found a way to bounce back from the humiliating loss to the Jets. They did so by controlling the five-on-five play against the Mammoth.

That was the right thing to do to help themselves.

2. What they shouldn't have done, however, was take so many penalties. We knew the Mammoth had incredible firepower on the power play.

The result? The visiting team went 3-for-5 on the power play, and it wasn't all on the referees' shoulders. Logan Cooley scored two of his three goals on the power play.

3. The Mammoth is a modern team. Their speed is truly impressive, and that makes them dangerous. Cooley's goals are good examples of this.

One day, I wouldn't be surprised to see the Canadiens and the Mammoth face off in the playoffs…

4. Jakub Dobes isn't to blame for all of the Mammoth's goals, and he earned the win, which is important. However, his .800 save percentage (four goals allowed on just 16 saves) isn't great, and he, as usual, gave up an early goal to start the game.

At times, his mind seemed to be elsewhere.

Without making a big deal of it, he and Jacob Fowler have combined for 13 goals in three games since returning from the road trip. If the Flanelle hadn't earned five out of six points in the standings, people would be talking about it more.

The win helps in many ways, which is good.

5. Recently, we wrote an article about goals allowed in the third period at home and about lost leads. Yesterday, the Habs never held a lead, which helps ensure they don't lose it.

But they still gave up a goal in the third.

6. I agree with my colleague Truman on this: even if Kirby Dach is no longer part of the medium- and long-term plans, seeing him score is a good thing.

Good for him.

7. The Canadiens are currently in second place in their division, two points behind the Bruins. They're sixth in the NHL standings.

The team is finding ways to win. That's a good thing.


In Brief

– Erik Cole is 48 years old.

– Ouch.

– High stakes.

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