If the Canadiens finish one point out of a playoff position — and that’s where they were after dropping a 5-4 overtime decision in Seattle — they can look back to that loss as the deciding moment in what has been a surprising season.
This was a game the Canadiens should have won. Montreal took a two-goal lead early in the third period on Juraj Slafkovsky’s second goal of the game. The Kraken tied it up in the final 10 minutes of regulation time and it was how Seattle scored its goals that was a disappointment. Rookie Jani Nyman and Matty Beniers scored power-play goals against a penalty-killing unit which ranked sixth in the NHL entering the game.
The loss put a bit of a damper on what has been an impressive run for the Canadiens since the 4 Nations Face-Off break. Montreal has only one regulation loss with a 6-1-2 record and Nick Suzuki has offered a clear rebuttal to those who claim that he’s not a No. 1 centre.
Suzuki had 17 points — five goals and 12 assists — in that nine-game span. His 69 points rank tenth in scoring among NHL centres and is a plus-11. He has a winning faceoff percentage of 51.3 per cent and the only centres in the top 10 who are more successful in the faceoff circle are Sidney Crosby and Leon Draisaitl.
Suzuki isn’t the only Canadien who has polished his reputation in the recent playoff push.
Coach Marty St. Louis encouraged Juraj Slafkovsky to be more assertive coming out of the break and Slafkovsky has responded. He put a beating on Ottawa’s Ridly Greig in the first game after the break and has shown a willingness to come to the defence of his teammates. Best of all, he is developing into the power forward the Canadiens hoped he would become when they drafted him first overall in 2022.
If there were people who questioned whether Suzuki was a first-line centre, there were far more folks who felt the Canadiens made a mistake when they drafted Slafkovsky. But the Slovak is the first player from the 2022 draft class to reach 100 points, nine points ahead of Utah centre Logan Cooley heading into Friday’s games. Habs rookie defenceman Lane Hutson is third in scoring (53 points) from that class.
Slafkovsky had six goals and four assists during the nine-game run, numbers equalled by Cole Caulfield, while rookie defenceman Lane Hutson had one goal and nine assists.
Another contributor to the Canadiens’ recent success has been Patrik Laine. He missed two games on the recent road trip because of the flu, although there were some whispers that the reported illness was a ruse to cover the fact St. Louis was unhappy with his performance and had benched the Finn.
That didn’t make a lot of sense because, for all of his defensive shortcomings and his complaints that he deserves more ice time, Laine is a valuable player. He had a goal — his 12th power-play goal of the season — and an assist in his return to action in Seattle and has three goals and five assists in the seven games he has played since the break.
Can Montreal’s current momentum carry the team into the playoffs? The people who crunch the numbers say it’s unlikely with the chances of a playoff berth ranging from 12.8 to 26 per cent.
The 17 games remaining on the schedule offer opportunities and pitfalls. There are two games against Ottawa, a team Montreal is trying to catch, and single games against Detroit, Boston and the Islanders, which are teams trying to overtake Montreal.
There are also seven games against teams assured of playoff spots, including three against the Florida Panthers, who are the Atlantic Division leaders and defending Stanley Cup champions.
Bishop’s takes women’s crown: Bishop’s upset the defending national champion Concordia Stingers to win the Quebec University women’s hockey title. After losing the first game of the best-of-three final 5-4, Bishop’s rallied to win the next two games, 4-1 and 6-3. Both schools will represent Quebec at the USports national championships next week in Elmira, Ont.
Bishop’s, one of the smallest universities in Canada with an enrolment under 3,000, has been hitting above its weight on the sports front. The Gaiters also qualified for the USports national championships in men’s and women’s basketball.
In the fall, the Bishop’s football team lost to Wilfrid Laurier in the Uteck Bowl USports semifinal. It was Bishop’s first national championship appearance since 1994. Bishop’s also qualified for the national championships in men’s and women’s golf.
Gascon shines in goal: Minnesota-Duluth sophomore Ève Gascon is one of three finalists for the outstanding women’s goaltender award in U.S. college hockey. Prior to heading south, the Mascouche native was the starting goalie for the CEGEP de Saint-Laurent men’s team and had a win and an overtime loss in an emergency stint with the Gatineau Olympiques in the QMJHL.