The Montreal Canadiens heard all of the talk and predictions this week, as the Tampa Bay Lightning were heavily favored over them in their first round series. But those didn't realize just how dangerous the Canadiens can be, especially with Juraj Slafkovsky on the power play.
On Sunday night, the Canadiens defeated the Lightning 4-3 in overtime. Slafkovsky ended things early in extra time in Tampa Bay with a power play goal, which just so happened to be his third of the night. That's right, the 2022 first-round pick scored a hat trick, with each goal happening on the power play.
Slafkovsky simply can't be overlooked, but the Lightning knew that. Lightning defenseman Ryan McDonagh said that they can't allow Slafkovsky and the Canadiens to get on the power play if they want to win.
Lightning learn just how dangerous Juraj Slafkovsky is on the power play
"We've got to start by not putting him on the power play,” McDonagh said, h/t NHL.com's Bill Price. “You ask any top player, they like feeling the puck and making things happen with that extra time and space. So, just keep playing him hard all over the ice."
The Canadiens made it to the playoffs due in part to their ability to score goals, both in even strength situations and on the powerplay. They have five players who put up more than 60 points in a season. Montreal scored 3.40 goals per game, seventh-most in the NHL. On the power play, the Canadiens have a 23.1 percent success rate, the 10th-best in the league.
As for Slafkovsky, he has thrived in power play situations, as 28 of his 73 points were recorded when Montreal had a skater-plus advantage. Slafkovsky's 28 points on the power play are tied for 26th-most in the league.
The crazy thing about Slafkovsky's three goal performance on the power play is that Tampa Bay is actually one of the best penalty kill teams in the NHL. The Lightning have a 82.6 percent success rate on the penalty kill, which is the third-best in the league. It certainly didn't help that they were without their top defenseman Victor Hedman, who hasn't played for the team since mid-March. Things were so bad for Tampa Bay, that their head coach Jon Cooper called out the team for "stupidity" that led to penalties.
Montreal showed that they can make Tampa Bay pay if they make a costly error to give them the skater advantage. Slafkovsky showed that the moment is not too big for him, whether it's the Winter Olympics or Stanley Cup Playoffs. One thing that Tampa Bay and the NHL world learned is that Montreal is anything but an easy out in these playoffs.
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