Nick Suzuki, Cole Caufield and Juraj Slafkovsky enjoy playing together and now are producing offense for the Montreal Canadiens.
The Montreal Canadiens were outplayed by the Dallas Stars in Saturday's 3-2 loss, including being outshot 33-14 in the final 40 minutes of the contest.
The silver lining is that the top line of Nick Suzuki, Cole Caufield and Juraj Slafkovsky had another productive game by scoring both goals. The trio has scored nine of the team's 13 goals in the last four games.
The scoring started during the first minute of the second period when Caufield found Suzuki hidden behind the defense. The captain used the open space in front of him to approach the net and slot the puck top corner.
"It definitely was not planned. Just a good puck to put in the weak side area. I was able to skate onto it. I don't know if he knew I was going to be there but it definitely worked out nice," said Suzuki describing the sequence. His goal extended his point streak to six games.
With less than two minutes remaining before the second intermission, Suzuki passed the puck to Slafkovsky on the side of the net and the 19-year-old beat Jake Oettinger.
"I saw a little empty net, so I might as well just shoot it. Goalies usually expect me to pass so I tried to shoot and it went in," said the first overall pick of the 2022 draft.
Caufield Extends Streak
Caufield's assist on Suzuki's goal extended his point streak to 11 games. During the sequence that began on January 11th, the Wisconsin native has scored six goals, and 14 points.
The 23-year-old is on pace for a season of 27 goals and 38 assists. While his goal total is well below most projections, the 65-point total would shatter his single season best 43 points.
"You can't really just be only a goal scorer in this league. We have to be able to create plays and you just can't be taking shots the whole time. I like where his game is at, he's definitely been making really nice plays. We know he can shoot when he gets in good position. I think if all of us can be a shot threat and a passing threat, it makes our line more dangerous," said Suzuki evaluating his left winger.
Slafkovsky's Scoring Touch
Slafkovsky lit the red lamp for a third straight match and extended his point streak to four. The Slovak spent time with shooting specialist Glen "Dr. Shot" Tucker in Brossard this week and it appears to be paying dividends.
"He's got all the tools and his confidence keeps growing. He's not afraid to shoot anymore. We were giving him a hard time when he wouldn't shoot before," Alex Newhook said.
The six-foot three-inch forward's confidence has grown while facing the opposition's top players. It might not matter in a developmental season but the experience will help him when the Canadiens are playing meaningful hockey.
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"The experience that he gets night in, night out, against top lines and top pairings, is something you can't generate in practice. He's progressed really well in the last couple of months and we just want to keep see him do that," noted Suzuki.
Slafkovsky envisioned joining Suzuki and Caufield even prior being drafted by the organization and early indications show that there's on-ice chemistry for the trio.
"Two great players and I'm just trying to help them and it's working for us. We're getting better from game to game, we're trying to watch a lot of clips of our game too, get our game going together and hopefully, we will keep improving," Slafkovsky said detailing the work effort of the trio.
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