After a five-game road trip, the Montreal Canadiens were back home, at the Bell Centre, to face John Tortorella’s Flyers.
For the Habs, apart from Cayden Primeau getting the nod, there were no changes to a lineup that bested a red-hot Colorado Avalanche team, on their home turf.
Players tend to be flat on the first home game right after a stretch on the road, but perhaps this was the exception that proves the rule, as the home team imposed their style of play early on against a hungry team in the hunt for a playoff berth.
A few personal milestones were achieved in the process – here’s your recap of the 4-1 Canadiens win.
Streaking Slafkovsky Adds To Montreal Canadiens Record
The 19-year-old first-overall pick kept his point streak alive with a fantastic dish on the first goal of the game.
Slafkovsky now owns the record for the longest point streak by a teenager playing for the Montreal Canadiens, with a ninth consecutive game on the scoreboard.
Without much fanfare, the hulking winger now has 23 points in his last 25 games – which equates to a 75-point pace over 82 games!
But when considering all the other good things he does, like his forechecking, board play, and puck protection – not to mention his fun, “team first” attitude – it’s hard not to get excited about his ceiling and the type of career he may have donning the Bleu-Blanc-Rouge.
The kid is showing flashes of dominance while being a positive play driver, breaking records of one of the most historic franchises of the league in the process, all before turning 20.
Looks like he’s arrived, folks.
Nick “Milestone” Suzuki
The Montreal Canadiens captain also improved his stats, reaching the 30-goal mark in a single season for the first time, quickly following up with an assist on the Habs’ second goal of the tilt.
With those two points, the stage was set for him to reach the 70 points plateau, which he was very close to getting, before seeing his second goal being called back.
Will he hit the mark on Saturday against the Hurricanes?
Cool, Calm Cayden
You have to think playing against his dad’s former team (Keith Primeau wore the orange-and-black for six seasons) bears a special meaning for Cayden.
And he rose to the occasion.
Author of two straight shutouts on home ice, the Montreal Canadiens netminder came into the contest with a lot of poise and confidence.
He was a big factor in securing the two points, stopping 29 shots, and was one minute away from getting a third consecutive home shutout.
Much luck was needed, however as the visiting hit the post on a few occasions, two goals were overturned (!), and 22 shots were blocked in front of him (kudos to Savard’s team-leading eight).
Primeau had to hold the fort as the Montreal Canadiens were overwhelmed in the third period, failing to register a single shot on net for over 10 minutes.
With the emergence of Samuel Montembeault and the promise of a bright future between the pipes with the likes of Jacob Fowler, Jakub Dobes, and Yevgeni Volokhin, could the Montreal Canadiens be the next goalie factory?
Old Montreal Canadiens Habits Die Hard
Arber Xhekaj, who singlehandedly offered the visiting team a couple of powerplays (tallying six penalty minutes) can certainly thank Primeau for limiting the damage.
It’s a good thing the Flyers are the worst team in the league in this department, otherwise, things could have gotten ugly.
And while none of these penalties were egregious, this is the kind of antics that got the big defenceman demoted to Laval, earlier in the season – will the Martin St. Louis elect to sit him next game?
Give him a paddlin’?
Stick taps to Matt Drake for the clips and MoneyPuck for advanced metrics.
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