Montreal Canadiens: Nick Suzuki shows more of skill on Memorial Cup stage

The Guelph Storm started their 2019 Memorial Cup run on the right path and Montreal Canadiens Nick Suzuki found his way on the scoreboard in the 5-2 victory.

After two days, all Montreal Canadiens prospects have seen action at the 2019 Memorial Cup. 2018 fifth round pick Cole Fonstad and the Prince Albert Raiders started off slow while Joël Teasdale and the Rouyn-Noranda Huskies couldn’t build off the first-period lead they made in Saturday’s match. But what was a disappointment for Teasdale and the Huskies was countered by cheers for Nick Suzuki and the Guelph Storm.

The final score of the game was 5-2, and three of them came off the stick of Alexey Toropchenko who stole the show. Toropchenko virtually ended the night early for Rouyn-Noranda with his natural hat trick in the first period, a feat that hasn’t been reached since Nathan Mackinnon in 2013 (via Ryan McKenna of Sportsnet).

Sean Durzi was another Storm player who had himself a time in Halifax. The dynamic defenceman finished the game with three assists (two primary and one secondary) being another force on the ice. But of course, when it comes to the Montreal Canadiens, the focus will always be on Suzuki who didn’t disappoint either.

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The incredible thing about his performance is that his goal wasn’t the best things from him. The tally was the fifth goal of the game in the final minute of the second period.

Suzuki and Durzi broke out on a two-on-one with only one Huskie back to defend it. Despite the sprawling attempt, Suzuki got the puck over to Durzi on the right with some sauce who returned the favour. Huskies goaltender Samuel Harvey overcommitted to one side expecting a shot from Durzi who instead past it back to Suzuki to send the puck into the empty net.

Halfway through the second, Suzuki had an incredible rush on the powerplay that started in the defensive zone. There was a race between Durzi and Rafaël Harvey-Pinard for the puck. Durzi did a good job in tying him up leaving the puck free for Suzuki to speed off.

He got past Vincent Marleau with ease and later split the D with a short toe drag to get a chance on net. It makes you think back to years prior when a knock on Suzuki was his skating because his speed was and has been on point.

Suzuki was noticeable each, and every time he was on the ice which is all you could ask for from a player who was the league’s MVP in the playoffs.

Teasdale didn’t find his way on the scoresheet, but he did have a good chance on net even though the game appeared out of reach. A lobbed pass from the defensive end found Teasdale streaking into the offensive zone, and he still managed to turn it into a scoring opportunity having to fight off Markus Phillips and Jack Hanley in the process.

There was rarely a time Teasdale was held pointless in the playoffs (out of the 20 games, it only happened three times) and it’s likely that continues as the Memorial Cup gets more intense.

It won’t be long before Suzuki, and the Storm retakes the ice as they’ll be facing the Halifax Mooseheads Sunday evening. The host team will be feeling good about themselves after their Day One victory, and it’ll be interesting to see if Guelph can carry over the momentum from this win against the Huskies.