The Montreal Canadiens got a big boost this week. Captain Nick Suzuki won't need to miss a game in the series against the Tampa Bay Lightning
On Friday, the Montreal Canadiens were back on the ice at the CN Sports Complex in Brossard, and unlike on Thursday, everyone was present and accounted for. On Thursday, Jacob Fowler was sick, and the Habs had said that captain Nick Suzuki and blueliner Kaiden Guhle were both receiving treatment. The news prompted some people to worry about the health of the last two, especially given how important they are for the team.
Speaking to the media on Friday, Suzuki revealed that it wasn't the reason for his absence; he wasn’t on the ice because his wife, Caitlin Suzuki, delivered the couple’s first child on Wednesday, and that he was now a father to a baby girl named Maya. You can understand the team’s communications department leaving it to the captain to break that kind of news himself.
That’s a double dose of good news for the Canadiens; the captain is healthy, and his daughter is already taking after her dad, thinking about the good of the team and arriving in time to allow her dad not to miss any games of the series with the Tampa Bay Lightning.
Of course, everyone would have understood if he had needed to miss a game, but Suzuki is the heart and soul of this team, and his absence would have been terrible for the Canadiens. The leader had his best season, racking up 101 points in 82 games, and the line he forms with Cole Caufield and Juraj Slafkovsky has been one of the best in the NHL. At the start of March, the unit was third in goal differential at even strength, and their performance in the final stretch was even better.
There’s no scenario in which the Canadiens can beat the Lightning if the first line doesn’t perform as it showed it can. The fact that Suzuki is happy and healthy and won’t miss any time for the birth of his first child is the best news the Habs could get ahead of the series start.
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