Canadian 5 – Flames 4 (P) | Suzuki got up (again)

(Calgary) Is there any doubt, in anyone interested in the activities of the Canadian, that this team is now that of Nick Suzuki?

Simon Olivier Lorange
The Press

The center player offered a masterful performance Thursday night in Calgary, in the 5-4 victory of his acquired in overtime against the Flames.

The young man literally did everything. A light pass to Jeff Petry, who tied the game at 1-1 in the first period. A goal scored on the power play after he detected, in a fraction of a second, the movement of goalkeeper Jacob Markstrom. An interception and a decisive climb on the first goal of Ben Chiarot, who made it 3-3 in the third period. Hard work outnumbered. Three blocked shots. Let us insist: he did everything.

“We’ve seen it over the years, in the season and in the playoffs, he gets up in the big games,” Ben Chiarot remarked after the game.

Coincidentally, Suzuki’s name had come up in conversation earlier in the day, after the morning practice. Mike Hoffman, far from being the most eloquent of the tribunes, had said of his teammate that he “acts and plays like an older guy”. Flames head coach Darryl Sutter described him as a younger version of Elias Lindholm – one of the most dominant centers in the NHL this season.

Little inclined to talk about himself and his performances, Suzuki preferred to recall that by playing this way, his club could “overcome all the deficits”, thus echoing the fact that the Canadian pulled from behind two times in this game. “Everyone fought hard tonight,” he added.

It’s true. But Nick Suzuki is not everyone. “He stood up against a big team and he was a leader,” noted head coach Martin St-Louis. In his eyes, number 14 has played his best game since taking office on February 9.

Authority

We have known since his arrival in the NHL almost three years ago that the 22-year-old Ontarian is a good player. But the authority and self-assurance he has gained compels wonder.

The fact that he also offered this performance in a game on the road is not without significance. As we know, with the advantage of the last substitution possessed by the team playing at home, it is the local coach who dictates most of the confrontations on the ice.

Suzuki, with Cole Caufield and Josh Anderson, therefore had the difficult task of competing against Mikael Backlund, Andrew Mangiapane and Blake Coleman, a unit that was both dangerous offensively and tenacious defensively. It was not an easy task, and it was not perfect, but the first line of the Canadian managed to pull out of the game.

In fact, Suzuki appears as a transformed player on the road for a few weeks. While he had only amassed 7 points in his first 21 games on the road this season, he collected 10 points in his last 8 games away from the Bell Center – a sequence that began on January 18, before the arrival by Martin St-Louis.

“At the start of the season, nobody was playing well on the road and I knew I could be better,” said Suzuki, who especially emphasized the “cohesion” that currently reigns in his line and which allows him to ” to build “.

Undoubtedly, a large part of the credit goes to him, an observation that is unanimous among his teammates. But he himself will not dare to claim this merit.

You can call it humility. Or leadership. In either case, it’s not so bad for a team that begins its reconstruction.

They said

In details

A rare power play goal

It’s not the first time it’s been mentioned in this section, but the Canadiens’ power play has been anemic since Martin St-Louis took office. Only two goals in 29 occasions before Thursday’s match (6.9%, in 31^and NHL rank). Still in Calgary, the wasted chances piled up, and it was only after the locals’ sixth minor penalty that the CH broke the bad spell – 5 against 3 by the way. Note two elements worthy of interest in connection with this phase of the game. First, the non-use of Jeff Petry, limited to 40 seconds in total, which is much less than Kale Clague, Ben Chiarot and Chris Wideman. Then the formation of five forwards deployed at 5 against 3, with Cole Caufield and Mike Hoffman at the point, as well as Nick Suzuki, Brendan Gallagher and Rem Pitlick near the net. Suzuki explained that this strategy had been in the cards for a while, but that his team had simply not had the opportunity to use it yet.

Mangiapane among the stars

In a team that counts on Matthew Tkachuk, Elias Lindholm, Johnny Gaudreau, Sean Monahan and now Tyler Toffoli, we wouldn’t have bet our savings on Andrew Mangiapane as the club’s top scorer. Yet it is at the top of this column that the little 25-year-old winger finds himself. Since arriving full-time in the NHL in 2018-2019, this distant sixth-round pick has constantly improved his production. In his first three campaigns, he tallied the equivalent of 15, 21 and 26 goals if we compare his rate of production over full seasons of 82 games. Now, after 53 games, he has already scored 29, en route to a possible harvest of 40 to 45 goals. Thursday night, he scored his team’s third goal, shorthanded, first defeating Ryan Poehling and then beating Andrew Hammond with an exceptional backhand shot into the top of the net. Great art.

Invincible Hammond

It’s not flattering to put it that way, but when the Canadiens acquired Andrew Hammond from the Minnesota Wild, it was to fill a jersey and pads in front of the net so Cayden Primeau could go rebuild his self-esteem. in the American League. However, the 34-year-old veteran won his first three starts, and with flying colors. In those three games, he posted a .925 save percentage and a 2.26 goals-against-average. Not bad, for a goalkeeper who hadn’t tasted the NHL for almost four years! However, it seems that his presence in the group goes far beyond the spectacular saves. “He calms things down and plays well with the puck,” Ben Chiarot said. He’s a veteran, a professional goalkeeper, and he plays like one. Asked about the pressure to keep his team in the game in the third period, which started down a one-goal deficit, Hammond limited himself to saying that he “couldn’t think about it too much”, even if he knew full well that an allowed goal would cut off his teammates’ legs. Moreover, his team “trusted the system” and never gave up. We know the end.

Rising

Mike Hoffman

He’s still not the most valiant of his generation in defense, but games like this are a reminder of why we pay a high price for him. A perfect shot at the end of the third period and two skilful passes that directly led to goals.

Falling

Chris Wideman

He wasn’t atrocious, but his lack of toughness hurts him against physical teams. He played less than 8 minutes at five against five, the lowest total among defenders.

The number

3

Ben Chiarot’s winning goal was the third of his career in overtime. His first two dated back to the 2019-2020 season.