For a long time, Slafkovsky did the dirty work in the elite Montreal line with Nick Suzuki and Cole Caufield. The powerful Slovak fought for the puck at the goal post and underwent physically demanding duels to create space for technical teammates. However, his creativity and productivity waned a bit.
“We know he can do great things with the puck and we want him to show them every game,” explained coach Martin St. Louis, why he demoted Slafkovski to the second formation to newcomers Oliver Kapanen and Ivan Děmidov. On Friday night, the European line of the Habs was a key force in a 7-5 win on the ice of Carolina, which the Canadian club conquered after almost ten years.
The action from the 5th minute, during which Slafkovský got the puck into the zone, kept it on the stick for Děmidov, who then served Kapanen in front of the open goal, was wonderful. And even the exceptional night of Sebastian Ah, who had a hand in all home goals (2+3), did not save Carolina.
Slafkovský’s drive across the entire ice rink in the 52nd minute showed the current mood of the still only 21-year-old boy from Košice. He took the puck in the defensive zone, dodged one opponent, another, circled a third, caught goaltender Brandon Bussi from an angle and scored his 14th goal of the season, the second the game-winner.
“We were up and down in that match. This win is especially valuable,” claimed Slafkovský and coach St. Louis explained why. “We’ve been trying to get to the level of the Hurricanes for the last three years. And now we know we’re getting close to some really good teams.”
Montreal is now third in the Atlantic Division, three points above the playoff spot, which means nothing in the extremely balanced Eastern Conference. However, in the second half of the regular season, the Canadiens do not have to rely only on the first formation offensively, because Slafkovský provided elite parameters for the second as well.
Since December 20, he has collected ten points, more since that date in the NHL have only been achieved by real players: Nikita Kučerov from Tampa (6+6), Edmonton’s Connor McDavid (3+9) and Nathan McKinnon from Colorado (6+5).
Slafkovský’s season record is 20 goals and 51 points. He is now 30 (14+16), in his current form he could attack the goal of 30 goals and exceed the 60 points mark. If someone thinks this is not enough, they can compare it with Martin Nečas, who at the same age collected 40 points per season, David Pastrňák had 70 points at the age of twenty-one.
In any case, the coach of the Slovak national team, Vladimír Országh, is pleased with the form of the Montreal forward. Slovakian hockey players are waiting at the Olympics in Milan in the basic group with the teams of Finland, Italy and Sweden. And the Czech-Slovak derby is not ruled out in the playoffs either. Slafkovský would certainly give him even bigger grades.
