Canadiens Captain Suzuki Shines In Dominant Win Vs. Florida

The Montreal Canadiens hosted the Florida Panthers at the Bell Center on Tuesday night, a game featuring a team trying to take the next step in the rebuild versus an organization with Stanley Cup ambitions.

But despite the mismatch on paper, it was the Canadiens who carried the momentum, putting together one of their best all-around efforts of the season to beat the Panthers 5-3.

As is tradition, captain Nick Suzuki led the charge for the Habs.

#NHL GameScore Impact Card for Montreal Canadiens on 2024-04-02:#GoHabsGo pic.twitter.com/eEKVp7nxYG

— HockeyStatCards (@hockeystatcards) April 3, 2024

Let’s dive into the highlights!

Casper Coverage

The Canadiens tend to have a hard time when it comes to facing the Panthers. That wasn’t necessarily the case on Tuesday, but there were still a few blatant mistakes that directly led to goals against.

Josh Anderson and Jayden Struble got their wires crossed during a first-period switchover, giving Anton Lundell all the time necessary to score his 10th goal of the year.

Hockey is a team sport, which means it’s usually difficult to pin a bad sequence on just one player, but it must be said that Anderson’s struggles this year extend beyond his lack of scoring in the offensive zone. His defensive play has been terrible.

Open season in the Canadiens' zone. Lundell gets an easy pass to the net and makes the Habs pay. pic.twitter.com/JFNcO4ffcT

— Marc Dumont (@MarcPDumont) April 2, 2024

Good Finnish

Fortunately, Joel Armia is enjoying the polar opposite season to what we’ve seen from Anderson. The veteran scored his 14th goal of the year when his team needed him most, yet another sign that Armia has really turned things around since his AHL assignment.

Just last year, some (me) were suggesting he was nothing more than a buyout target, but if he maintains his solid play some teams may even be interested in a potential trade that could net the Canadiens draft assets.

Joel Armia taps in the Michael Pezzetta rebound to tie the game. #GoHabsGo pic.twitter.com/j6FnpH8zGI

— Marc Dumont (@MarcPDumont) April 2, 2024

This Segment Is Where I’ll put the Innevitable Barkov Goal

Here’s the inevitable Sasha Barkov goal versus the Habs.

Barkov scores a very nice goal to restore the Panthers' one-goal lead.

Rough defensive coverage from the Habs. pic.twitter.com/KmwFRO4VgJ

— Marc Dumont (@MarcPDumont) April 2, 2024

Confused Zebras

I don’t enjoy criticizing referees. For the most part, fans are way too hard on them given how quickly plays develop in the NHL.

But every once in a while the officiating crews go out of their way to complicate things, and that’s when I will join the chorus of fans criticizing the shambolic refereeing.

The ‘no-goal-yes-goal-no-goal’ play in the second period was the perfect example.

The most frustrating aspect of the flip-flop was that it was unprompted. No one thought Brendan Gallagher scored in the first place. Habs fans, for some unknown reason, got their hopes up because upon review the officiating crew said the puck crossed the line.

Half a minute later they decided to once again change their minds and announce that it was not a goal.

That’s the epitome of an unforced error, a situation that’s way too common in the NHL.

Now, to be fair, the referees did a very good job controlling the game in the third period when the Panthers decided to throw a series of tantrums once the win was out of reach.

The refs came out and called a good goal for the Habs initially, but then overturned it due to a "mistake in communication". pic.twitter.com/7xO5c0hWJR

— TSN (@TSN_Sports) April 3, 2024

Captain’s Orders

The Canadiens did not allow the confusing officiating to negatively impact their play, as they continued to carry the momentum of the game early in the second period.

Their hard work against one of the best teams in the league was rewarded when Suzuki scored his 31st goal of the year.

It’s always important to remember that despite playing with the maturity of Methuselah, Suzuki is only 24 years old. He has just entered his prime, and he’s showing us what he can do with the bare minimum support from his teammates.

Imagine what he will be able to do once some of the rest of the players in the lineup hit their statistical primes.

Nick Suzuki is left all alone to score his 31st goal of the year. Tie game. #GoHabsGo pic.twitter.com/vdYwFiHKMS

— Marc Dumont (@MarcPDumont) April 3, 2024

Suzuki was not done there. He scored his second goal of the game midway through the second thanks to a little help from Mike Matheson and Alex Newhook.

The powerplay goal gave the Canadiens an important one-goal lead while also establishing yet another career high for the team’s captain.

We’re running out of ways to describe Suzuki’s impact on the lineup, but it’s very difficult to oversell his value.

Let’s put it this way.

If the Canadiens were a vehicle Suzuki would be the engine.

And the steering wheel.

And the wheels.

And the safety belt.

And the transmission.

And suspension.

And that awkward compartment in the middle console where you keep losing your change.

But not the brakes.

Nick Suzuki gets #32, a 40 goal season is absolutely in the cards for the Habs captain! pic.twitter.com/w3lhydYUzS

— Scott Matla (@scottmatla) April 3, 2024

Follow The Leader

It’s no secret Cole Caufield has had awful puck luck this season. His scoring is down despite being one of the most active shooters in the league.

Rather than taking a shot from his typical location on the ice, Caufield managed to get off the schneid by changing things up and successfully attempting a wrap-around.

The goal was Caufield’s 21st of the season, and it featured a very nice assist from Juraj Slafkovsky.

Juraj Slafkovsy with a fantastic assist and Cole Caufield with the goal! pic.twitter.com/0mEW13C3Pf

— Scott Matla (@scottmatla) April 3, 2024

Special Teams Show Up

Jake Evans put together a fantastic individual effort early in the third period to give the Montreal Canadiens a commanding 5-2 lead.

We often discuss the lack of power on the powerplay and the team’s shorthanded deficiencies, but on Tuesday night the special teams certainly held up their end of the bargain.

Great individual effort by Jake Evans to score a shorthanded goal and make it 5-2 #GoHabsGo pic.twitter.com/a9V9ZuV1eD

— Marc Dumont (@MarcPDumont) April 3, 2024

The Montreal Canadiens will be back in action on Thursday. They are set to host the Tampa Bay Lightning at the Bell Centre. The puck drop is scheduled for 7 pm ET.

All Montreal Canadiens statistics are 5v5 unless otherwise noted. Via Natural Stat Trick.