Habs Highlights: Suzuki Goal, Xhekaj Fight, Slafkovsky Demoted

The Montreal Canadiens hosted the Columbus Blue Jackets on Saturday night, a perfect situation for Martin St-Louis’ team to gain a little momentum. The Habs have been much better from a defensive standpoint in recent games, but unfortunately, their offence faded away as the defence tightened up.

Before the puck drop, the Canadiens honoured former captain Shea Weber by adding him to the team’s ring of honour. Weber was inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame earlier in the week, a well-deserved accolade for a player who was dominant on the international scene with team Canada, not to mention one of the most respected players in NHL history.

À tout jamais parmi les grands. Bienvenue dans l’Anneau d’honneur, Shea! ✨

Forever among the greats. Welcome to the Ring of Honor, Shea! #GoHabsGo pic.twitter.com/X8c0hJH3av

— Canadiens Montréal (@CanadiensMTL) November 17, 2024

The team also announced David Savard would not take part in the game, which meant Jayden Struble avoided watching the game from the press box.

It was one of the best outings of the season from the Canadiens, as they took an early lead and never looked back, emerging with a well-deserved 5-1 win.

If you’re interested in joining a fun discussion about all things Habs, don’t forget to join me for Game Over, via this link.

Now let’s dive into those highlights!

Strong Start

We’ve discussed the preparation, or lack thereof, from the Canadiens to start games ad nauseam in the last few seasons, which makes their start against the Blue Jackets very encouraging. To be clear, Columbus held a slight edge in shots, but the high-danger chances were even, and the Canadiens did a better job in the accuracy department, as more of their shots made their way to the net. They actually managed to get 16 of their shots on target, their best result in first periods this season.

Oh, and the Habs actually scored the opening goal!

It was Mike Matheson’s first goal of the year, and a powerplay marker to boot, a continuation of the team’s improved man-advantage efficiency this season. Full marks go to Juraj Slafkovsky, even if his name did not show up on the scoresheet. Creating chaos in the opposing crease is always a boon, especially for a team that has struggled offensively of late.

Mike Matheson scores his first goal of the season, on the powerplay.

Good work by Slafkovsky to create chaos in the crease.
1-0 #GoHabsGo pic.twitter.com/ulNlDhsbxJ

— Marc Dumont (@MarcPDumont) November 17, 2024

Of course, even with the goal from Matheson, and the fact that the Canadiens are now a top 10 powerplay team in the NHL after a decade-long streak of despair, many fans will suggest the team absolutely has to put Lane Hutson on the No.1 unit.

I agree with them, to a certain extent.

Hutson will undoubtedly take over the first powerplay unit, though it may have to wait until next season. And that’s perfectly fine. Hutson is already the busiest Canadiens player in the lineup, and among the busiest defencemen in the NHL. We all know he has a skill set that complements a powerplay nicely, he’s already proven as much.

By giving him more time at 5v5, Hutson has a chance to work on some of his weaknesses, which includes defensive positioning when the opposing team sets up a cycle in the Canadiens’ end.

I don’t hate the approach, especially when we consider Hutson is a rookie, and is not used to playing 82 games in a season, as the NCAA involves roughly half the matchups in a season. St-Louis is well aware of the impact of playing a full season in the NHL has on a body, and is probably already a little worried about how much ice time he’s giving the youngest defenceman in the lineup.

After all, it’s a marathon, not a sprint.

Given all the other issues in the lineup, I’d argue the whole Matheson/Hutson No.1 powerplay unit debate is much ado about nothing.

Heavyweight Tilt

We haven’t seen Arber Xhekaj fight as often as he did last year, and at the risk of repeating myself, that’s absolutely fine. Along with Jayden Struble, Xhekaj is the only defenceman who has underlying numbers that would suggest he makes a positive impact while he’s on the ice. In other words, the concern about the third pairing is overblown, but I digress.

Once in a while, an arranged fight will break out, as it did on Saturday when Xhekaj fought Mathieu Olivier. If you’re scoring the fight, it was a win for the Blue Jackets forward, though Xhekaj showed a lot of mettle by not dropping after Oliver connected with a few heavy rights.

Classic heavyweight tilt between Oliver and Xhekaj.

Much more entertaining in 30 seconds than the entire Tyson vs. Paul fight. pic.twitter.com/hHBqAM1h4A

— Marc Dumont (@MarcPDumont) November 17, 2024

Montreal Canadiens Captain’s Call

The first line seemed to be doing relatively well throughout the first half of the game, but St-Louis decided to mix things up by placing Juraj Slafkovsky on the fourth line, while promoting Joel Armia to the top trio, alongside Nick Suzuki and Kirby Dach.

I’m not sure if I agree with the demotion, and you’d be hard-pressed to suggest Armia deserved a promotion, but it certainly paid off in the short term, as Suzuki scored his seventh goal of the year shortly after the change. Slafkovsky has had a decent, if not somewhat tentative season. He’s trying to do a lot more on his own, which is necessary if he’s to become a star in the NHL, and he’s doing much better when it comes to driving the play through the neutral zone, but overall, his shot selection has left something to be desired, and the quality scoring chances have been few and far between.

For what it’s worth, Slafkovsky returned to the top line midway through the third period, making it more of a message than a traditional demotion by St-Louis.

As for the scoring play, the goal by Suzuki ensured he maintained his point-per-game pace this season, which isn’t too bad for a player that receives far more than his fair share of criticism in Montreal.

It was also fitting that he scored on a night when the Canadiens honoured their former captain.

Suzuki scores to give the Habs a 2-1 lead.

His seventh goal of the year, assisted by Armia and Xhekaj. #GoHabsGo pic.twitter.com/IgwjVNBdwY

— Marc Dumont (@MarcPDumont) November 17, 2024

Insurance Goals? In This Economy?

The Habs weren’t losing control of the game while they had a one-goal lead, but we’re all aware of the defensive issues within the team, making it a very fragile lead, regardless of which team had the momentum.

Fortunately, Lucas Condotta scored his second NHL goal to give the Canadiens a little breathing room. Condotta will never win a major trophy, but there are few things more enjoyable than watching a player who worked incredibly hard to make it to the NHL score an important goal.

Lucas Condotta with a laser to make it 3-1 #Habs pic.twitter.com/t1D6sSo2Qs

— Matt Drake (@DrakeMT) November 17, 2024

The Montreal Canadiens were not done there, as Jake Evans notched his 100th career point by scoring the team’s fourth goal of the game. A stick tap goes out to Cole Caufield for his excellent assist.

Great hustle from Cole Caufield, a magnificent pass to the low slot, and Jake Evans goes bardownski with it.

4-1 #Habs pic.twitter.com/OIdFNHLaEb

— Matt Drake (@DrakeMT) November 17, 2024

Josh Anderson also got in on the action, deflecting a Matheson point shot with just a few minutes left in the third period. The quick movement between Huston and Matheson is the driving force behind the goal, as it forced the goalie to readjust, and a moving goalie is a vulnerable goalie.

Hutson to Matheson, off Josh Anderson and in.

5-1 #Habs running away in the third period. pic.twitter.com/wnJgRElF8y

— Matt Drake (@DrakeMT) November 17, 2024

The Montreal Canadiens are back in action on Monday. They will host Connor McDavid and the Edmonton Oilers at the Bell Centre, with the puck drop scheduled for 7:30 pm ET. All Montreal Canadiens statistics are 5v5 unless otherwise noted. Via Natural Stat Trick.