2023-12-23 04:50:20
Juraj Slafkovsky is increasingly coming out of his shell with his play on the ice, and the good mood was there on Friday, following the Montreal Canadiens’ 5-2 victory once morest the Chicago Blackhawks.
The first pick in the 2022 draft has been talked regarding for the right reasons in recent weeks. Since being reunited with Nick Suzuki and Cole Caufield, he seems to be spreading his wings. He gets physically involved in the forecheck and places himself where he needs to be successful in the NHL, in front of the net.
Once once more Friday night, just like Thursday once morest the Minnesota Wild, Slafkovsky was able to score thanks to his presence close to the opposing goalie. In the locker room following the match, the man who now has four goals under his belt had fun when he was asked if he enjoyed going in front of the net.
“Someone has to go there,” he said.
A journalist later asked him if he liked being in this position, whereas once morest the Hawks, he was able to push the disc behind the red line following beating his roofer following a a shot from Nick Suzuki to make the score 3-2 in favor of Montreal.
“I don’t really like it,” he joked, making the journalists around him laugh.
“I like that,” he continued, wanting to make sure that everyone understood that he was not serious with his previous response. Yesterday it hit my leg and today my stick, maybe soon I will be able to score from further away. »
Slafkovsky’s work was once once more noted by his linemate Suzuki and head coach Martin St-Louis.
“It’s nice to see his progress. He seems more comfortable in each match. We didn’t have a good first half, but we came back strong. He has come a long way since his first match with us,” underlined the CH captain.
“It’s an opportunity that he deserved with a lot of things that aren’t just goals and assists. I knew he had the skills to complement his two guys. It is certain that the more repetitions he has, the more comfortable he feels. He is doing very good work at the moment,” added St-Louis for his part.
Slafkovsky now has four points in his last two games. He feels that his game is in the right place and that he has found a winning formula that he must continue to refine.
“I feel so much better just playing.” Not every period is the best, but I generally feel better making plays. Being with these players, they make incredible plays,” he said of Suzuki and Caufield.
With this victory and this portion of five points collected out of a possible six to begin the holiday trip, the Canadiens are only three points behind the Carolina Hurricanes and the last place among the teams drafted in the East .
If St-Louis specifies that he is not used to looking at the rankings, he likes what he sees from his players and if expectations change, it is thanks to their work.
“I don’t look at the standings a lot, but I like where we are as a team. I think we have made good progress. We have taken a step. When you take this step, you raise the standards. It’s not me who raises the standards, it’s them. It’s our job as coaches to keep them to these standards, because we know what they are capable of,” explained St-Louis.
It remains to be seen if the Habs can resume on this path when they return from leave on December 28, with their match once morest the Hurricanes.
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