The Montreal Canadiens face a must-win game four at the Bell Centre on Wednesday night, and they need their captain to lead the way.
After losing a second straight game in overtime, the Montreal Canadiens find themselves trailing 2-1 in their series against the Carolina Hurricanes and facing a crucial Game 4 at the Bell Centre on Wednesday night. After firing on all cylinders in Game 1, the Habs' first line has been rather discreet at even strength in the last two games.
Furthermore, captain Nick Suzuki, who leads the Canadiens in points this postseason with four goals and 12 assists for 16 points in 17 games, has been kept off the scoresheet for the last two tilts and was a minus-one in each of those games.
The centerman wasted a perfectly good opportunity to end the game and win in overtime when he took off on a breakaway but fired a shot way wide of Frederik Anderson’s net. Earlier in the game, he had also wasted an odd-man rush opportunity alongside Cole Caufield.
Typically, when Suzuki is not being productive offensively, he still contributes on the other side of the puck. On Monday, however, he even struggled in the faceoff circle, only winning 29% of his draws (four out of 14). He took only one shot on net and had three other shots that either missed or were blocked.
If the Canadiens fail to turn the tide on Wednesday night at the Centre Bell, they will be pushed to the brink of elimination, and their season will be on the line on Friday night in Raleigh. If the Habs ever needed their captain to step up, it’s now.
With Lane Hutson taking responsibility for Monday night’s loss and flagellating himself in front of the media, chances are the young defenseman will come out strong out of the gate, just like he did after his counter-performance against the Buffalo Sabres. If both Hutson and Suzuki can have good performances, the Canadiens will be in great shape to tie up the series before heading back to Carolina.
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