After emerging from the Four Nations break with a 5-2 win over Ottawa, the Montreal Canadiens looked to start themselves a winning streak on Tuesday night. It wouldn’t be an easy one, as they’d have to do it against one of the strongest teams in the East, the Carolina Hurricanes. Playing one of their best defensive games of the season, and getting a shutout from Samuel Montembeault, they pulled it off, and are playing some of their best hockey after most of the team was given some time off.
One player who was perhaps hoping to not have that time off was Nick Suzuki, and he stepped up in a big way for the Habs, factoring in on three of their four goals.
Nick Suzuki RIPS one short side, top corner on the power play, 3-0 #Habs pic.twitter.com/t8YrLALmB6
— Matt Drake (@DrakeMT) February 26, 2025
Frankly, this is a play they need to default to more often when the left side of the ice is well covered on the power play. Suzuki loves that spot, has a very underrated wrist shot, and is capable of doing this more often than he gets credit for. We saw a five-on-three for the Habs earlier in this game where their passes – and their intention of getting the puck to Patrik Laine – were telegraphed. Using Suzuki as a secondary shooter could force teams to respect the right side of the ice a little more, and open up more opportunities for the likes of Laine.
Now, Laine ended up having a very solid game of his own anyways, but Suzuki was the bus driver for Montreal in this one. Named first star of the night after the game, he told the Bell Centre crowd that this team still has their hearts set on climbing their way back into the playoff conversation. They have an uphill battle to get there, but the brand of hockey they’ve played in their first two games coming out of the break at least shows that they’re taking it seriously.
A wild card berth will be tough, but this team continuing to play that brand of hockey would mean a great finish to this season, regardless of whether or not they can actually climb that hill. A strong finish would give this team something to build on for next season, which is when most feel like this team should really be ready to compete for a playoff spot.
And if their captain keeps playing like he is right now, he’ll cross that point-per-game plateau by the end of the year regardless of where they finish.
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 Thursday night for the second game of the home stand, when the Habs will host the San Jose Sharks.
