Juraj Slafkovsky scores his first NHL power-play goal, but he’s more impressed with Christian Dvorak’s “celebration” after scoring a hat trick.
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ST. LOUIS — Juraj Slafkovsky loved Christian Dvorak’s celebration after scoring his first NHL hat trick in the Canadiens’ 7-4 win over the St. Louis Blues on Saturday night.
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In fact, it was Dvorak’s lack of celebration after scoring in an empty net at 18:25 for his third goal of the third period — and his third goal this season — that impressed Slafkovsky.
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“It’s crazy,” the 18-year-old rookie said of Dvorak’s cool response after his third goal. “I don’t know which is better…the triple or the celly. Coldest cell I’ve ever seen, just standing in a corner and nothing. I would celebrate, but it’s Devo. I like that, really.
Dvorak had a small smile on his face in the locker room after the game.
“It was really good,” he said. “I was getting tweeted by guys for not smiling or whatever. So they’re all over me.
The Canadiens were all over the place against the Blues after falling 3-1 midway through the second period – especially on the power play, going 2-3. Cole Caufield and Slafkovsky scored the power-play goals. Caufield was his second goal of the game. Nick Suzuki also scored for the Canadians.
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Before the start of the game, the Canadians were 1 for 24 on the power play in their first eight games.
Slafkovsky had a much bigger celebration than Dvorak with a big fist pump after scoring his second NHL goal. The No. 1 pick in the NHL Draft this year had missed the previous three games with an upper-body injury and this was the first game head coach Martin St. Louis had used him on the second unit on the power play.
“I thought it was Slaf’s best game ever,” St. Louis said. “Not because he scored, not because he is playing on the power play. I feel like every shift he got, like he was on base. Every shift he got, he went on base and he had his home run on that power play and he took advantage of it and he scored.
“He played really strong physically tonight,” the coach added of the 6-foot-3, 238-pound player. “As I said, it’s a process with Slaf at 18. He has a good skill set, but he has to figure out what kind of player he’s going to be in this league, what style he’s going to have to play. He’s going through that right now and tonight we saw what we know we have in a big boy for an 18-year-old and he played like a big boy tonight.
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Slafkovsky’s power-play goal was a searing shot from the top of the face-off circle.
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“For me, the power play is where is the advantage?” Saint-Louis said. “Obviously we’re five against four, but where’s the advantage on the ice and that changes all the time. So can you figure out the five guys, where’s the advantage now? Because in three seconds, five seconds, the advantage can be different and you have to recognize that and play where the advantage is. I thought we did that tonight.
Caufield said the power play went well. When asked what the Canadiens did to finally execute on the power play, he said with a cold stare, “The game plan. I will leave it there.
Caufield’s power-play goal came from an incredible lightening pass from Suzuki. Caufield described it as “Spooky Suzuki”.
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“I know he’s out there somewhere,” Suzuki said of Caufield, who now has seven goals in nine games this season, tied for second in the NHL behind Connor McDavid of the Edmonton Oilers. who has nine. “He’s always ready to shoot. Its firing radius is quite large for its size. Just take him over there. I saw him go down. Had a nice seam with a small peak in front. It’s a good goal on the power play.
Suzuki added that scoring two power-play goals against a team that ranked fifth in the NHL on the penalty kill last season with an 84.1% completion rate should give the Canadiens a boost going forward. ‘before.
Dvorak’s three goals should also give him a boost.
“Sometimes the puck doesn’t bounce in your direction,” he said. “You can’t be frustrated when that happens. Stick with it and things will change.
Now Dvorak just needs to work on his goal celebration.
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