TAMPA, Fla. — Nick Suzuki suggested his six-foot-three, 225-pound linemate would play like a giant as soon as the puck dropped in this Stanley Cup Playoff series between his Montreal Canadiens and the Tampa Bay Lightning, and he was right.
“His attributes fit perfectly for this type of hockey,” Suzuki said of Juraj Slafkovsky Sunday morning.
By the end of Sunday night, Slafkovsky had become the first Canadiens player in history to notch three power-play goals in a playoff game.
His last one came 1:22 into overtime, giving the Canadiens a 4-3 win in a seesaw Game 1 at Benchmark International Arena.
It was the 22-year-old’s seventh shot on net, his 10th attempt of the night, and it rubber-stamped a performance he’s been building towards ever since he first donned a Canadiens uniform just months after being taken first overall in the 2022 Draft.
As Canadiens coach Martin St. Louis said after the game, Slafkovsky’s path to this point “wasn’t linear.”
“You understand that,” St. Louis continued. “I think when you’re dealing with young players, talented players like that, I think as a coach you have to have some patience, empathy, whatever it is. But the goal is to always advance, him growing but understanding that it’s not going to be linear. There was ups and dips, but I feel like as he’s evolved the last year, there’s not a lot of dips.”
Over Slafkovsky’s first year, there seemed to be nothing but dips.
He practically spent more time swimming on the ice than skating on it, often knocked sprawling by hits he’d had no previous experience taking—including some major ones to his confidence, as he went on to collect only four goals and 10 points through 39 games before injury ended his season prematurely.
Over the next season, Slafkovsky was able to take steps forward without taking as many backward.
Then his evolution into the power forward he was meant to be came steadily from the halfway point of last season through the entirety of this one.
“It’s been unbelievable,” said Josh Anderson, who scored Montreal’s first goal and set the physical tone for a Canadiens side that had 42 hits in this game.
The 31-year-old, who’s also six-foot-three and 225 pounds, had also set the tone for Slafkovsky ever since they became teammates.
“Ever since I got here, I sit next to him in the locker room,” said Slafkovsky. “He’s a great guy to take from, and he’s helped me (by) always being positive and telling me when not to make plays and go hit some people. We can see he does it a lot, so I’m just trying to do it whenever I can.”
It’s given Slafkovsky a better understanding of how to access the type of skill that Anderson never quite possessed.
That skill enabled the kid to push three pucks past Andrei Vasilevskiy in the most important game of the season to date. But Slafkovsky got to it on this night—and over a season that saw him score 30 goals and 73 points to set career highs in both categories—by using his speed and tenacity the way Anderson always does.
“He’s a power forward. Big guy that’s hard to stop,” said Anderson. “And you’d think that Nick and Cole (Caufield) make him better, but he makes them better too. Obviously, he’s a huge-time player for us. He’s got a lot of confidence, a lot of swagger, and I just love his game.”
It hit another level at the Milan Olympics in February, where Slafkovsky scored four goals and four assists in six games, willing Slovakia to the semifinals.
“I was definitely impressed, but I wasn’t surprised,” Canadiens teammate Lane Hutson told Sportsnet last week. “I was impressed because it’s such a high level. No disrespect to Slovakia, but they don’t have a ton of star power, so to do it with not much, it was really impressive.
“But I think when those stakes get higher and the game’s on the line, he wants to make an impact anyway he can, whether it’s throwing a hit, getting in hard on the forecheck, making a big play, or extending possession. He can do it all, and he knows it, and it’s a luxury to have him on our team.”
On this night, against a Tampa team that clawed back 1-0 and 3-2 leads, it was essential.
Brandon Hagel, Anthony Cirelli and Jake Guentzel threw a blanket over Suzuki and Caufield, holding the 101-point man and his 51-goal accomplice to one shot attempt at five-on-five between them.
But they couldn’t stop Slafkovsky on the power play. Especially with the game on the line.
“I got some open space there and decided to shoot it,” he said, “and it went in.”
Slafkovsky had the composure to make that big play in overtime — and several others in the game.
“We know what he’s capable of bringing, and he brought it tonight,” said St. Louis. “Not just his goals; he was physical, he won his battles, he was annoying. It was a big game for him.”
It was a huge one for the Canadiens, who also kept their composure despite a wild momentum swing in the second period.
Anderson had a goal wiped off the board after it was ruled he made contact with the puck above the crossbar.
Twelve seconds later, he was given a questionable charging penalty for a hit that knocked Charle-Edouard D’Astous out of the game, and while he was serving it, the Lightning scored the first of two goals in 29 seconds to take a 2-1 lead.
The Canadiens weathered that storm before Slafkovsky scored his first goal of the night in the final minute of the period.
Slafkovsky’s second came 5:56 into the third, and it felt like destiny he’d get that third after Guentzel’s penalty with 20 seconds remaining in the frame put the Lightning’s comeback bid in jeopardy.
“He showed that he can be a dominant player,” Suzuki said before the game. “I think being around him the last week, he’s excited for that.”
Slafkovsky showed it immediately.
“He’s been so good for us,” said Jakub Dobes, who stopped 20 shots and also played a huge role in the Canadiens’ win. “Hopefully he’ll do the same thing on Tuesday (in Game 2).”
