Suzuki, Slafkowski lead Canadiens to 5-0 win over Ducks

MONTREAL – Kaiden Prayau believes the Montreal Canadiens played their best game of the season on Tuesday night.

Judging by the number of hits a young netminder takes, he may have a score.

The 24-year-old Prime needed 13 saves to earn his first career shutout in his first start since Jan. 20 as the Montreal Bell beat the Anaheim Ducks 5-0 at Center.

Captain Nick Suzuki had two goals and one assist, while Juraj Slafkowski had one goal and two assists to lead Montreal's offense to a dominating win.

“I haven't really been tested that much,” Prime said. “It's their (teammates) merit.”

The red-hot Suzuki extended his point streak to a career-high eight games, scoring 13 points in that stretch to take his tally to 51 points in 53 games this season.

Slafkowski, who connected with Suzuki all night, extended his hitting streak to six games (five goals, four assists) and posted the first three-point game of his career.

It was another standout performance for Montreal's trio of Suzuki, Slafkowski and Cole Caulfield, who are a legitimate team in the NHL amid another rebuilding season for the Canadiens.

“It's encouraging, they're finding consistency, it's hard not to be excited about that,” head coach Martin St.Louis said. “It's fun to watch, not just the result, but it's fun for me to see them play together.”

Jake Evans and Brandon Gignac – with his first NHL goal – scored for the Canadiens (22-23-8), who responded to an ugly 7-2 loss to the St. Louis Blues on Sunday.

Lucas Dostal stopped 33 shots for Anaheim (18-32-2), which was shutout for the sixth time this season.

The Canadiens' top players made the Ducks pay on the power play, going 2-for-6 on the night.

“Terrible,” Anaheim quarterback Cam Fowler said. “That's all I have for you.”

After Montreal dominated shots 12-6 in a scoreless first period, the home team turned it up a notch in the second period.

Evans scored his third of the season and first of 25 games with 1:43 to go, beating Dostal with a layup after he teamed up with Tanner Pearson.

Suzuki doubled the lead at 9:37 to extend the streak. Slafkovsky patiently dodged past Ducks defenseman Pavel Mintyukov before taking a clean pass from Suzuki on the break.

The two forwards later connected again late in the period, this time on the power play, when Suzuki hit a cross-ice puck into an open net from Slafkowski to make it 3-0 with three minutes left in the period.

“It's Nick,” Slafkowski said. “You never know when he's going to come on your tape and you have to put it in. I mean, Nick's a great player.”

In complete control, the Canadians led the shots 29-9 after 40 minutes.

“You can take wins and losses, but when you go out there and perform like that as a team, you have to start looking in the mirror,” Fowler said. “They did a great job, they played hard. We didn't do that, and that's why you're seeing this result.''

Montreal added another power play marker at 7:26 of the third. This time, Suzuki fed Slafkowski in his 11th campaign.

On a night full of home support, the building may have been overwhelmed as Gignac scored to make it 5-0 after 2-0 down less than three minutes later.

Kv. The 26-year-old from Repentini has waited a long time to score in the NHL.

“I never stopped believing it would happen one day, so right now it's unbelievable,” he said. “I got chills (when the crowd reacted).

“This building never ceases to amaze me, and it was as loud as it was in the playoffs,” Prime added.

Montreal won – but with players from both teams dropping the gloves several times at the death, there's no anger.

“You have to give them credit,” Fowler said. “They played a great game and obviously they were upset about the game they had earlier and they showed it.”

NEXT UP

Canadiens: Visit the New York Rangers on Thursday.

Ducks: Continue a three-game sweep of Canada East on Thursday against the Ottawa Senators.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published on February 13, 2023.

Daniel Rainbird, Canadian Press