Statistically speaking, Wednesday night saw one of the worst games the Montreal Canadiens have played this season. They were roundly dominated at five-on-five by the Seattle Kraken, but some very opportunistic scoring and stellar goaltending from Jakub Dobes combined to earn them a 4-2 lead in the third period. Penalties sunk them from there, as two power play goals forced an overtime period that the Kraken would win in just five seconds.
There was a silver lining in that half of the opportunistic scoring came from young Juraj Slafkovský, who is on an absolute tear in this final stretch of the season.
Jakub Dobes makes a desperate save, puck goes the other way, and Juraj Slafkovsky goes absolute cookie jar.
— Matt Drake (@DrakeMT) March 13, 2025
3-2 #Habs pic.twitter.com/sriLxRwaBe
This was eerily similar to his goal from the previous night against the Canucks. He comes into the zone one-on-one, doesn’t have a clear path to the net, and doesn’t bother trying to manufacture one. He just keeps his feet moving, gains space by moving to his left, and fires a beautiful shot. I wrote about his need to find more shooting confidence back in February, and since coming out of the Four Nations break, he hasn’t been hesitating to use his shot whatsoever. He’s
He added another goal with a redirection in front of the net, another area where he’s been a pretty significant problem for opposing teams. Physicality has been quite present in his game for most of the season, but lately it feels like he’s truly demanding his space on the ice, imposing himself on his opponents in front of the net and along the walls. It creates a lot of opportunities for himself, and has definitely helped his line become one of the more dominant top lines in the league right now.
He has now reached the 40-point plateau on the year, and could feasibly set a new career high before the end of the season. Much like last year, he finds himself playing much better towards the end of the season, as he seems to take months to really settle into his game. He said himself that he hasn’t been really satisfied with his overall play this year, but the way he’s operating in this stretch run has him looking like the player this team hoped they were getting with the first-overall pick.
On one hand, his later-season improvement happening two years in a row begs the question of why it takes so long for him to get going, and whether that can change. On the other hand, you have to wonder what this could hypothetically mean if he gets a chance to be in the playoffs. Physically imposing, and now boasting some heretofore unseen shooting confidence, he could be a serious problem if his career sees him simply at his best in the spring.
He may or may not get the chance this season, but the way he’s closing out this season gives hope that he could be a beast when that chance finally comes around.
Click the play button below to listen to your full Bottom Six Minutes, also available wherever you get your podcasts. We’ll be back on Saturday night, when the Habs will be back at the Bell Centre to host the division-leading Florida Panthers.
