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Canadiens Postgame

Habs Highlights: Juraj Slafkovsky Comes Out Swinging (Literally)

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2 months ago

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The Montreal Canadiens were in Ottawa on Tuesday, facing a hungry Senators team at the Canadian Tire Centre. It was the first game back since the 4 Nations Faceoff tournament, with both teams looking to create a little momentum out of the gate.

The first period saw the Canadiens and Senators exchange a bevy of goals, but once things settled down the Habs emerged with a well-deserved 5-2 win.

Juraj Slafkovsky, in particular, was a force to be reckoned with for the Canadiens.

Let’s dive into the highlights!

Immediate Impact

Fans were treated to a defence-optional first period, which is exactly what they want to see, and exactly what coaches hate to witness.

Brendan Gallagher opened the scoring thanks to a little help from the Senators, not to mention an important play by his linemate, Josh Anderson. It’s easy for us to say athletes should always absorb a check to make a play, but it’s not always fun to get crushed by a professional athlete who is flying around on boots that have sharp metal blades on them designed to generate speed on the ice.

Anyhow, Anderson took the pain to create the gain, and his teammates were surely appreciative.

With his 15th goal of the year, Gallagher is now tied for second among all Canadiens forwards. It’s a great reminder that Gallagher is not done contributing to the Habs. It’s also a very obvious reminder that the Canadiens need more goalscorers, but that’s a topic for another day.

Sizekovsky

Have you ever watched a smaller dog bully a bigger one? At one point, the bigger dog loses patience and inevitable flattens his much smaller counterpart, putting an end to the ankle biting.

Well, Juraj Slafkovsky is almost always the biggest dog. Some have suggested he needs to do a better job using his size advantage. I agree with that sentiment to a certain extent, which is why it was great to see Slafkovsky flatten his opponents on Saturday night.

Sure, Cole Caufield scored the second goal of the game, but it was a very encouraging shift from the youngest player in the lineup.

Pushback

The Senators immediately tied the game thanks to goals by Jake Sanderson and Tim Stutzle, with the former showing an incredible amount of patience before tucking the puck behind Samuel Montembeault.

I know Habs fans don’t like Stutzle, probably because he takes more dives than a kingfisher, but there’s no denying he enjoys playing against Montreal.

Stutlze had two points in the first period, pushing his career totals to 20 points in 21 games versus the Canadiens.

Fortunately for the road team, Finnish sniper Patrik Laine restored the one-goal lead prior to the first intermission. Yes, we all know Laine is a potent weapon on the powerplay, and we can’t take any credit away from him, but keep an eye on Lane Hutson prior to the pass. There’s a reason Ullmark was not anticipating a pass, and that was all Hutson.

Ullmark clued-in a little too late, and by then the puck was already behind him.

It’s particularly impressive when you consider that every single team in the NHL knows what the Canadiens will do on the powerplay. They practice for this exact scenario. The Senators knew Laine was going to shoot, the Canadiens knew Laine was going to shoot, and everyone with eyes was aware Laine was going to shoot.

And yet, Hutson’s shiftiness still seeded confusion.

Full Steam Ahead

Anderson and Gallagher were crucial to the fourth Canadiens marker, scoring the same type of goal that always worked when playing NHL07, but once again I’d like to give credit to someone who did not register his name on the scoresheet. Struble’s strong play in the neutral zone was the reason the puck quickly made its way into the Senators’ end. (Update: Struble did end up getting credit for the assist.)

Slafkovsky enjoyed one of his best games of the year, with much of it having to do with his physical prowess.

It’s an aspect of his game that he needs to bring to the table every night. The other major issue with Slafkovsky is his reluctance to shoot. Most times, he’ll defer to Caufield or Nick Suzuki, which is understandable when you consider he’s the cadet among the trio.

But a little more greed is in order for the Slovak forward.

He didn’t have a choice in the matter when he scored the fifth goal of the game, but it was still a sight for sore eyes, as he did not hesitate to shoot all night long.

The 20-year-old forward put a fine point on his current state of mind. He’s ready to fight. Literally. Slafkovsky went out of his way to drop the gloves with Ridly Greig, and while it’s clear he’s not exactly the most technical fighter in the league, it was an entertaining tilt.

Every single Montreal Canadiens player that was on the ice then proceeded to head to the penalty box to give Slafkovsky props for his fight.

The Montreal Canadiens will be back in action on Tuesday, hosting the Carolina Hurricanes 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.

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