Solid Olympic Debut For Nick Suzuki and Team Canada

Suzuki started his tournament on the wing next to Nathan MacKinnon, but unlike the first team practice, the other winger was Brandon Hagel instead of Brad Marchand. Despite never playing with each other, the three players had decent chemistry that should only grow as long as they take it together going forward. Given how the team performed against a good Czechia team, we shouldn’t see a different lineup in terms of the forward group for their next game on Friday against Switzerland, which could be a great sign for Suzuki to continue playing with a talent of the likes of MacKinnon.

It didn’t take long for Canada’s 2nd line to get on the board, as MacKinnon was left all alone to rip a slot shot past Czechia’s netminder Lukas Dostal. Unfortunately, it would be immediately called back, as Suzuki was called for tripping on the play after he beat out a Czechia defenseman to the puck and passed it back to MacKinnon; however, the follow-through of his pass led to him tripping his opponent. In the NHL, this would have surely gone uncalled, but this was just a sign of how strict things can be with the IIHF. However, with that being said, it seems like what a Suzuki penalty would be is something that can easily be controversial. Especially when looking at the angle as seen above, it clearly shows that the trip only happened after he won the race to the puck and not the reason that he got MacKinnon the puck. Luckily both Suzuki and MacKinnon would redeem themselves with a goal each later in the game.

Suzuki’s goal actually came in the middle of a line change, as rather than being on the ice with MacKinnon at the time of the goal, it was Connor McDavid who was out there to assist on the Habs captain’s goal. Suzuki would score off a tip from a perfect pass by McDavid, making it more about being at the right place at the right time, but sometimes that’s all you need to get on the board. McDavid led Canada in points on the day with his 3 assists as he was flying, which made everyone around him play better too, which included Suzuki.

In fact, Suzuki almost got an assist on a few occasions throughout the game just by springing McDavid in for scoring chances as his shift was coming to an end. It showed just how incredible it can be to get to be on the same team as McDavid, but also how incredible Suzuki’s IQ is to know where McDavid will be before he gets to the bench. The best opportunity for an assist came from getting McDavid the puck to start a 2-on-1 with Hagel, and Dostal made two huge stops on the world’s best player.

If Suzuki happened to switch lines at any point, playing him with McDavid may be a good idea to create scoring chances. Suzuki may not be the fastest or most skilled, but his hockey brain allows him to keep up with the best players. His intelligence gives him the ability to know where his teammates will be, which is why he’s such a good passer alongside Cole Caufield, for example, and it will only be enhanced by playing with MacKinnon or McDavid.

Suzuki finished the game as 1 of the 3 forwards who weren’t part of Team Canada for the Four Nations Tournament that scored a goal in the Olympic opener (Macklin Celebrini and Bo Horvat also scored).

How did you like Suzuki’s performance on Thursday?