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Bottom Six Minutes: Big Nick Energy

With only two games remaining in their season, the Montreal Canadiens entered their Wednesday night tilt with the New York Islanders without much to play for. A win would serve only to hurt their draft lottery odds, and playing against a team needing at least a point to clinch a playoff spot, it would have been hard to expect them to win. Unsurprisingly, they didn’t, remaining in fifth-last and paving the way for the Isles to make the playoffs.

That didn’t dissuade captain Nick Suzuki, however, who scored one of the nicest goals the Tricolore have seen this season.


This goal would be impressive regardless of the situation, but to get it done shorthanded is special. He’s well behind in the race for the puck, but turns on the jets and somehow wills the puck into the top corner with one hand. It’s just a silly display of individual skill and work ethic.

Individual skill and work ethic is coincidentally a big part of how he set a career-high for points this year, playing with players who wouldn’t normally be anywhere near his line. His best linemate of late has been Rafael Harvey-Pinard, who was returned to the Laval Rocket to help with their push for the AHL playoffs. With even his options C through F taken away from him, he’s finding ways to put up points.

Wondering what could have been if he got to play the full season with Cole Caufield is frustrating. Still, the fact that he was able to do what he did this year with his rotating cast of linemates is commendable. In his first year as the team’s captain, we saw what Nick Suzuki is really made of.

And in the team’s penultimate game, with little to nothing left to play for, he gave it his all.

Click the play button below to listen to your penultimate episode of the Bottom Six Minutes for the 2022-23 season. Don’t forget to subscribe on your preferred platform, as we won’t stop when the Habs do, we’ll continue bringing content geared more towards the NHL draft.


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