Nick Suzuki isn’t scoring enough

Yesterday, for example, his overtime penalty wasn’t ideal.

Suzuki still manages to pick up his share of points, which is good. But he’s not getting up as often as usual to score goals.

With 14 in 47 games, he’s on a 24-game pace this season. That’s a marked drop from the 30 and 33 of the last two years, when you break it all down.

I know that last year, it was at the end of the season that he particularly stood up. But still: the sample is large enough to make a rule of three in this month of January.

Just yesterday, when the Habs needed to score, the captain’s line failed to do so. And this on both the powerplay and five-on-five.

In fact, in January, Nick Suzuki has just one goal. And Cole Caufield, his teammate with a reputation for scoring goals, has just two in eight games.

I know, I know: it’s a small sample. Tougher sequences happen. But guys still make passes. And Alexandre Texier turned into Wayne Gretzky for two games in January.

But at some point, Suzuki and Caufield need to score more. Especially Suzuki, considering that Caufield is having a season a little beyond expectations, in my opinion.

The captain (is he 100% healthy?) isn’t really a problem for the Canadiens, but having him in second gear would help energize the attack and support Oliver Kapanen’s line.

Perhaps adding a top-6 winger could help #14 in this respect?

overtime

– Deserved.

– For soccer fans.

– Interesting.