Habs Highlights: Dobes Shines, Suzuki Captain Clutch

The Montreal Canadiens took to the ice on Friday night, aiming to maintain their momentum against Alex Ovechkin and the Washington Capitals.

Jakub Dobes was making just his third career start, looking to extend his winning streak to three against the offensively-inclined Capitals, who are among the top teams in the NHL on home ice this season.

The Habs provided yet another great effort, outshooting and outchancing the Capitals by a very wide margin, and emerging with an impressive 3-2 overtime win.

If you’re looking to talk Habs after you finish the recap, make sure to join me for a post-game show on YouTube, which always includes a fun discussion with our fantastic community of fans.

Let’s dive into the highlights!

The Good, The Bad

It was definitely a low-event first period, though within that lack of excitement there was a silver lining to be found, as the Habs held the high-flying Capitals to just one high-danger chance at 5v5. Now, we should also note the Habs finished the first without a quality scoring chance at 5v5, but considering the discrepancy between both teams in the standings, allowing just one even-strength chance is not the worst possible result by any means.

Of course, some things never change, which is why the Capitals entered the first intermission with a 1-0 lead. Both players who had spent more than their fair share of time in the press box, Michael Pezzetta and Jayden Struble, quickly made their way to the penalty box. Both players received limited ice time after their difficult starts.

You all know I love defending underdogs,  it’s very difficult to watch most of the season as a healthy scratch, and the lack of discipline is a team-wide issue, but those two simply cannot afford to be taking penalties considering their sporadic usage.

The Ugly

As for Jake Evans, he’s had a harder time from a defensive standpoint in the last few games, and his terrible pass attempt was the true cause of the first goal against. We don’t need to lose any sleep, as Evans’ overall tally places him among the best penalty killers going, but he does need to tighten up his play on the penalty kill a little.

You’ll also note Dobes made a slight adjustment moments prior to the shot, just in case Jakob Chychrun decided to pass to Alex Ovechkin, which I hear is a decent powerplay strategy. It was barely more than a muscle twitch, but it was enough to derail his set position, giving Chychrun enough time to pick his spot.

It was also quite clear that Alexandre Carrier anticipated a pass rather than a shot.

File this one under perks of working with the greatest goal-scorer in NHL history #ALLCAPS | @BlueHalo pic.twitter.com/o4ekLQBHIc

— Washington Capitals (@Capitals) January 11, 2025

Molehill Mountain

Juraj Slafkovsky enjoyed one of his best games of the year, though it feels like I’ve written that exact sentence a few times already in 2024-25. Let’s be honest, his overall play has been fine, but not excellent, and the criticism has been a bit much.

With that in mind, not only did Slafkovksy feed Caufield with a perfect pass, he was also the player who intercepted the puck in the neutral zone to start the sustained offensive-zone shift for the Habs. He also set up Nick Suzuki with a nice pass shortly thereafter.

It was Caufield’s fifth goal in as many games, pushing him to 23 goals on the season. If Caufield could, he would play against Washington every night, as he has eight goals in 11 career games against Ovechkin’s team.

Juraj Slafkovsky feeds Cole Caufield with a very nice pass.

Caufield scores his 5th in 5 games. #GoHabsGo pic.twitter.com/oEOq2cSYhl

— Marc Dumont (@MarcPDumont) January 11, 2025

Very Special Teams

We often focus on 5v5 play, as it usually accounts for roughly 80 percent of the game, but this even-strength obsession does undersell the value of special teams.

On Friday, the penalty kill faltered, but it was bolstered by yet another impressive showing from the penalty killers, as evidenced by Josh Anderson’s seventh goal of the year. It was Montreal’s fifth shorthanded goal of the year, tying them for third overall in the NHL.

Josh Anderson scores a great shorthanded goal after Sandin trips on the blue line.

Habs are up 2-1. #GoHabsGo pic.twitter.com/7sRkvmwZa0

— Marc Dumont (@MarcPDumont) January 11, 2025

Jake The Snake

Even though Dobes didn’t have to face an unreasonable number of shots, the Capitals still had a few great chances. He approached the game with the same type of stoicism we’ve seen since his time in the NCAA with the Ohio State Buckeyes.

The players will have to get used to how frequently he plays the puck, but suffice it to say the Montreal Canadiens are likely quite happy with what Dobes has managed to do as a rookie facing elite NHLers.

Jakub Dobes has 170 minutes in the NHL but plays like a 17-year veteran. pic.twitter.com/fxs6QlOsT7

— Marc Dumont (@MarcPDumont) January 11, 2025

Extra Time

Overtime was rather simple, and yet, it was beautiful.

Lane Hutson broke up a scoring chance by the Capitals, which led to yet another clutch goal from captain Nick Suzuki, who is making a habit of putting the puck in the back of the net in overtime this season.

Lane Hutson breaks up the play, and then Nick Suzuki does what he does best, wins the game for the #GoHabsGo.

Another very impressive game by the Canadiens pic.twitter.com/rxlWDlvRrr

— Marc Dumont (@MarcPDumont) January 11, 2025

The Montreal Canadiens are back in action Saturday. They will face the Dallas Stars at the Bell Centre, with the puck drop scheduled for 7 pm ET.

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