(Montreal) The young stars of the Canadiens are all fired up and allowing fans to dream.
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Nick Suzuki scored two goals and an assist, Juraj Slafkovsky had his first three-point game in the NHL by collecting a goal and two assists and they propelled the Montreal team to a 5-0 victory against the Anaheim Ducks , Tuesday evening at the Bell Center.
Even though the opponent was weak – and weakened by the absences of attackers Trevor Zegras and Alex Killorn – the Canadian played a match as perfect as imaginable.
Suzuki collected at least a point in an eighth straight game. He scored seven goals and seven assists during this stretch.
For his part, Slafkovsky amassed at least one point in a sixth straight game (five goals, four assists), tying the Canadian record for a player under 20 years old. He shares the mark with Doug Wickenheiser, who established it during the 1980-81 season.
PHOTO MARTIN CHAMBERLAND, THE PRESS
Juraj Slafkovsky in front of goalkeeper Lukas Dostal
Jake Evans and Brandon Gignac, with his first goal in the NHL, also hit the target for the Canadian (22-23-8). Cayden Primeau stopped 13 shots and was credited with his first career shutout in the NHL.
Lukas Dostal made 33 saves in net for the Ducks (18-32-2), who had won two of their previous three games.
Defender Arber Xhekaj was back in the Canadian lineup in place of Jordan Harris, who suffered an upper body injury Sunday against the St. Louis Blues. Kaiden Guhle was at his post after a scare late in the same match.
The Canadian will play his next match on Thursday, when he visits the New York Rangers.
A faultless
The first period was not particularly lively, but the Canadian threatened on the power play.
Joshua Roy hit the crossbar late in the period for the Canadian.
Moments later at the other end of the ice, Ross Johnston reached the red sticks twice – once on a shot, the other time by deflecting a shot from Radko Gudas.
The Canadian finally opened the scoring 1:43 into the second period. Evans ended a 24-game scoring drought by completing a nice exchange with Tanner Pearson during a two-on-one attack.
PHOTO MARTIN CHAMBERLAND, THE PRESS
Cole Caufield
Suzuki then scored his first goal of the period at 9:37, deflecting a Slafkovsky feed in the opening during another two-on-one attack.
This goal allowed Suzuki to overtake Cole Caufield as the Canadian’s leading scorer this season, with 18.
The Habs captain returned to the charge with 3:00 left in the second period, on the power play. Suzuki once again took advantage of a pass from Slafkovsky to score in a gaping cage.
The Canadian had a 17-3 advantage in shots on goal in the second period. The Ducks had only nine shots on net after 40 minutes of play.
Suzuki finally made Slafkovsky’s accomplice when the 19-year-old Slovakian scored on a power play at 7:26 of the final period.
Gignac joined the party with 2:45 left, after a two-man attack on the goalie with Guhle.