About last night: The Canadiens recorded their first shutout in over a year

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Nick Suzuki and Juraj Slafkowski each had three points for the Montreal Canadiens in a 5-0 win over the Anaheim Ducks at the Bell Center on Tuesday night.

In his first start since Jan. 18, Cayden Primeau made 13 saves and recorded the club's first shutout in nearly a year. The last one was received by Jake Allen on Valentine's Day 2023.

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The Ducks tried to push back physically, but the Canadiens were ready to answer the call when called upon: Arber Hekay, Jonathan Kovacevic and Kayden Goulet all dropped the gloves.

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The Habs outscored the Ducks 38-13 in the first period on the shot counter. Montreal outscored them 12-6 in the first period, but the game remained scoreless.

Montreal scored three unanswered goals in the second game. Jake Evans and Tanner Pearson made great plays, with Evans winning the puck over Lucas Dostal in the backcourt. 1-0 Habs. David Savard started by forcing a turnover in Montreal's defensive zone.

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Savard helped start the one-on-one again, this time Slafkowski played a perfect pass to Suzuki, who didn't even have to move his stick to redirect it past Dostal. Jayden Struble sent the puck off the board to send Slafkowski.

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Slafkowski set up Suzuki again for his second goal of the period, this time on the power play. Montreal took a 3-0 lead after 40 minutes.

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Cole Caulfield could have felt left out in the third period when his two teammates scored two goals without him, but he assisted on Slafkowski's first goal of the night. It also came down to the power play. Montreal took a 4-0 lead.

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Then Brandon Gignac was helped by his friends Hekaj and Goulet to score his first career NHL goal. That put the Habs up 5-0.

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Slafkowski has 12 points in his last 11 games. His six-game hitting streak is now tied for the longest by a Habs rookie since Doug Wickenheiser. Slafkowski's 20 points in his last 24 games are the most by a Habs rookie since Stefan Richer.

Suzuki has nine points in his last four games since returning from the All-Star break and is on pace for a season-high 51 points in 53 games. Caufield finished the night with one shutout, but also had eight shots on net. In total, 16 of the team's 38 shots were scored by the top line. It's a one-line team at the moment, but it's worth the price of one-line admission.

On another positive note, Goulet shook off everything that was ailing him to end Sunday early, while Struble dusted off his worst performance as a professional, as you can see on Hockey Stat Cards.

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It wasn't quite the 1972 Summit Series, but the Habs put their weekend struggles as a team in the rearview mirror and turned in their first full 60-minute performance in quite some time. They even matched up physically with a Ducks team that brought in Radko Gudas to patrol the blue line.

Some Liveblog commenters were happy to see the Habs as gritty as the win itself. That speaks to what fans want to see in the dog days of the 2023-24 regular season, as the Habs once again find themselves outside the playoff picture: They don't want to see this young team regress and lose. A team can lose more games than they win the rest of the way, and the worst thing to do is get complacent.

3. “It was good to see these guys put out the primer and it's good to see them lay down the law,” Max Gray

2. “Arber, Pez, Struble in the last shift. We had a lot of muscle.” – Mick Chow

1. “It's been an interesting season of redemption for prospects. We know how many people quickly calculated Slaf. Wrong (and stupid – he was 18). But many people began to think that Struble would never be anything more than a No. 6 or No. 7 defenseman, and that Prime should be dumped for a sack of pucks. Wrong. And he was wrong again.” – Michael Way

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