Montreal Canadiens: Nick Suzuki shines in Canada’s World Junior defeat
Team Canada wrapped up its pre-tournament schedule with a 5-2 loss to Team Finland, but Montreal Canadiens prospect Nick Suzuki had a positive impact.
The 2019 World Junior Hockey Championships is about to begin. The pre-tournament is over, and the next step is for the main tournament to get underway in British Columbia. Team Canada finished things off Sunday night against Finland which featured Montreal Canadiens prospects Nick Suzuki and Josh Brook.
Canada wasn’t able to walk away with the final victory though there were some sweet spots. One of them included Suzuki getting a primary assist on the power play.
The team was in need of a tying goal after Otto Latvala made it 1-0 ten minutes into the first. Suzuki from the right circle fired a shot on Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen, but it was stopped. Canada quickly recovered the puck getting it back to the point for another chance.
Ty Smith passed it to Suzuki who, instead of shooting like before, found Morgan Frost with a cross-ice pass firing a shot from the left circle to beat Luukkonen and make it 1-1.
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You get to see something about Suzuki that makes him such a special playmaker. There is a lot of deception that goes along with the way he plays and passes the puck. The overhead shot from behind Finland’s net provides a good view of this.
Suzuki genuinely looks like he’s about to take another shot on Luukkonen who goes to the top of the crease to square the opportunity. Unfortunately, he’s up far enough that it takes two sweeps to the right to get across to attempt at stopping Frost. The play is done as by that point it’s over, and the puck is in the net.
It wasn’t only Suzuki who stood out in the loss for Canada as Josh Brook was the team’s best defenceman. Brook’s skating has been talked about at length, but something that will never cease to surprise anyone is his vision and awareness. He uses sharp and precise passes to advance the play and keep the opposition on their toes in all three zones.
Additionally, his ability to separate players from the puck is effective and efficient. Brook has always been advertised as an all-around defenceman, and he’s using the World Juniors to prove it. But that was only the pre-tournament.
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The real thing is coming soon, and it’ll be interesting to see how Suzuki and Brook continue to grow as the games become more important.