St. Louis: Suzuki 'needed' breakout performance vs. Sabres
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Montreal Canadiens captain Nick Suzuki snapped a four-game point drought on Monday, breaking out with two goals and two assists in a 7-5 win over the Buffalo Sabres.
The dominant performance put Suzuki back above a point-per-game pace with eight goals and 17 points in 16 games this season and helped Montreal snap a six-game winless skid.
“‘Suzy needed a game like tonight,” Head coach Martin St. Louis said. “I’m happy he got that game; as a player, you need those games.
"I think, like everybody, he feels the heat a little bit and to get that game and breathe a little bit … this team needed this outcome tonight, and I think Suzy needed that too.”
Suzuki, now in his third season as Canadiens captain, fell just short of the point-per-game mark last season with 33 goals and 77 points in 82 games. The 25-year-old leads the team this season in assists and points, with the goal-scoring Cole Caufield second in points with 13, owning just one assist with his league-best 12 goals.
Caufield's $7.85 million cap hit is just behind Suzuki's $7.875 million, with only the injured Patrik Laine owning a bigger hit among the Canadiens forwards at $8.7 million.
Despite Monday's win, the Canadiens continue to sit at the bottom of the Atlantic Division with a 5-9-2 record. Throughout their recent skid, St. Louis suggested the team was close to finding wins and reiterated after the victory that more results should now follow.
“We know we have a recipe to be in every game,” St. Louis said. “… I think the group had had enough. We weren’t perfect, but we played good hockey.”
“It feels good,” Caufield added. “It’s been a while, but we were kind of playing the right way, just weren’t getting results. At the end of the day, this is a pretty good feeling in the room right now.”
The Canadiens will close out their current four-game road trip on Thursday against the Minnesota Wild before returning to Montreal for a four-game homestand.