The Montreal Canadiens came to play at the Bell Centre on April Fools ’ Day. The visiting Florida Panthers looked anything but the Stanley Cup Champions in the first period, and the Habs set the tone early. Even though the Cats had already lost three times to Montreal this season, they looked like they weren’t expecting what hit them…until the start of the second frame, that is.
Canadiens: Update On Ivan Demidov and Oliver Kapanen
The Fowler Wait is the Hardest Part
Canadiens: The Gallaghers Are Doing A Fund Raiser
Lane Hutson got his 55th assist of the season in the first frame, equaling Chris Chelios for the most assists by a rookie defenseman with the Tricolore, a mark set in 1984-85. That was also his 60th point of the season, and he became only the 10th rookie defenseman in NHL history to achieve the feat. However, he wasn’t done for the night, as he added another two assists to his name to finish the night with 57. He now needs three more assists to tie Larry Murphy’s league record for most assists by a rookie defenseman.
As weird as it seems to say, we’ve come to expect this from the rookie blueliner now, but the play that impressed me the most was seeing the 162-pound player skate in the corner to retrieve the puck knowing full well that 209-pound AJ Greer was coming at full speed to crush him into the boards.
Not so long ago, we saw Ottawa Senators defenseman Thomas Chabot back away from a puck when he saw Josh Anderson closing in on him. Chabot isn’t 162 pounds; he’s 203 pounds and a 28-year-old veteran. The Canadiens’ 20-year-old rearguard knows no fear.
There have been games where Samuel Montembeault has looked exhausted lately, but not in that one. The netminder made several big saves in the second stanza to keep Montreal in the game.
In fact, after 40 minutes, he had surrendered two goals, but neither of them came from the Panthers’ sticks; they were both deflected, the first by Jake Evans and the second by Kaiden Guhle. From five shots in the first, Florida went to 13 in the second, while the Canadiens could only muster seven, spending much of their time stuck in their own zone.
Montembeault got another nine shots in the final frame but held the fort and ultimately gave his team a chance to win, which they did.
It’s hard not to be impressed by Nick Suzuki’s game. He added another two points to his name tonight to set a new career high with 79, but what’s even more impressive is the knack he has for being in the right place at the right time.
ON SE PEUT PU
— Canadiens Montréal (@CanadiensMTL) April 2, 2025
SCREAMING CRYING THROWING UP#GoHabsGopic.twitter.com/v3ulXqSwO3
No one will say otherwise about the equalizing goal, which came from a lucky bounce. Martin St-Louis, however, mentioned that he had the presence of mind to hang by the back post there. Perhaps, like one of the greatest players to ever play the game, he knows where the puck will be, not just where it is.
When the coach was asked which qualities make his captain the player that he is, he replied:
Oh, he’s got an elite computer, you know. His software is high-end, obviously, and he’s got all the tools to do what his brain tells him to do, you know, so he’s very connected that way. Tonight I felt you saw that on many occasions. I think he’s a proud guy, and he wants to lead this team, and he’s doing that.-
That’s an accurate description from the coach, and perhaps we should start calling Suzuki the Terminator, considering how he ended the game tonight.
With this 3-2 overtime win, the Canadiens remain in the second wild card spot, even though the Columbus Blue Jackets signed an 8-4 victory over the Nashville Predators tonight. Montreal has a two-point lead over the Ohio outfit, but the Jackets do have a game in hand. As for the New York Islanders, they lost in regulation and find themselves trailing the Canadiens by five points. The New York Rangers were inactive and remain two points behind the Habs, while the Detroit Red Wings trail them by four points.
According to Moneypuck, the Canadiens now have a 50.1% chance of making the Spring dance, they have the Rangers at 26.2%, the Blue Jackets at 18.8%, the Red Wings at 3.7% and the Islanders at 2.9%.
Canadiens stories, analysis, breaking news, and more! Tap the star to add us to your favorites on Google News, never to miss a story.
Follow Karine on X @KarineHains Bluesky @karinehains.bsky.social and Threads @karinehains.
Bookmark The Hockey News Canadiens' page for all the news and happenings around the Canadiens.
ST. LOUIS – For the second time in 10 days, the St. Louis Blues were implementing a part of their future right smack, dab in the middle of a playoff race.
And a winning streak.
First, it was Dalibor Dvorsky, the No. 10 pick in the 2023 NHL Draft making his debut in a 4-1 win against the Nashville Predators on March 23. On Tuesday in a 2-1 overtime win against the Detroit Red Wings, it was Jimmy Snuggerud, the No. 23 pick in the 2022 draft who signed his three-year, entry-level contract on Friday, had one practice on Monday and was thrown right into the fire, and enjoyed every bit of it.
“It was fun. So exciting,” Snuggerud said. “The rink was so energetic. Everything about the game, the comeback at the end, it was an awesome game.
“I felt like we snuck one out there at there at the end, and it was fun to be a part of.”
Snuggerud, who played 10:43 and was a minus-1, didn’t factor in the scoring by Jordan Kyrou in the final 30 seconds of regulation and by Cam Fowler in overtime, looks like he belongs.
The 20-year-old wasn’t overwhelmed by jumping into the middle of a nine-game winning streak that turned to 10 with the dramatic win.
Snuggerud had two shots on goal, including one in the first period from the right circle trying to beat Red Wings goalie Cam Talbot on the short side, but it was created by his awareness in the neutral zone to knock a puck down, push it into the zone before getting it back for the opportunity.
It was a subtle, little play that turned into multiple plays of the kind in which the forward did what he was supposed to do in a team concept of working off the puck to create opportunities.
“You're simulating what you think it's going to be and then you actually get out there and it's a whole different level of hockey,” Snuggerud said. “It's honestly fun to get that first game in and see the pace. It was nice to win with the guys.”
Snuggerud played on a line with Oskar Sundqvist and Zack Bolduc, who eventually flipped spots with Jake Neighbours.
“I thought he was really good," Montgomery said. “I thought he made smart plays. I didn't think he over-complicated the game and he made plays on first-touch. That's a real good sign of a hockey player with really good hockey sense. I thought he acquitted himself well in his first game in the NHL and I was very confident putting him over the boards.”
Snuggerud played 15 shifts, which included 1:49 of power play time. There was one giveaway in the game, but that’s OK, all things considered.
“I think he did a really nice job,” Fowler said. “Coming in at this point in the season, fresh out of college, that's not an easy thing for anybody to do. But he stepped in, you could see his poise with the puck and how strong he was in the corners. So I thought he did a nice job and he'll only get better with time and he'll only get more comfortable, and I think you'll see a lot more out of him.”
Montgomery was confident enough to use Snuggerud late in the game down a goal, and had there been another shift in OT, guess who was going over the boards?
Jimmy Snuggerud takes his rookie lap #stlblues ... pic.twitter.com/ES4UVsxgK1
— Lou Korac (@lkorac10) April 1, 2025
“I think if we were going to make another change, it was going to be Neighbours and Snuggerud going over,” Montgomery said. “[Snuggerud] was making things happen. He drove that puck wide and he went back post and we just missed the tap-in. That's not the only clever play he made, and I thought he was responsible defensively.”
If the University of Minnesota product is going to fit into the fabric of how the Blues want to play, small details will matter. But they will want him to be at his best, and that’s being a threat offensively.
“I thought he was good,” Kyrou said. “You could see his skill and speed and smarts. The first game is always tough coming in, right, especially a playoff atmosphere like that. But I thought he did a great job.
“His first game, obviously jitters and nerves come in. I just try to let him enjoy that and let him experience that.”
Snuggerud walked into the rink on Tuesday at Enterprise Center for the first time, likely sooner than he had hoped since the Frozen Four will be played here April 10-12 and wanting to be part of it with the University of Minnesota. But he got a taste of what hockey is like at the pro level and at a level where Blues fans will come to appreciate him if he keeps with the mindset of how he attacked his first pro game.
“The first game was really fun, but it's also the most nerves,” Snuggerud said. “It was a nervous game, but it was fun to play with so many good players.
“I mean honestly just seeing Patrick Kane from the bench tonight was a pretty weird moment. Then I kind of got buried by [Vladimir] Tarasenko in the first on the boards. I was like, ‘All right, got to get into it.’”
Get into it, he did.
“Just coming to the rink, ‘Boldy’ picked me up with ‘Tucks’. It was actually my first time seeing the rink, so it was really cool coming into this locker room and getting here for the pre-game stuff. The game starts and it's just such a whole different feel. It's so much more pro and it's really fun to be a part of.
“It's energetic. (3M Arena at) Mariucci is a really fun rink (on the campus of Minnesota), it's really loud in there,” Snuggerud said. “Then come to this rink and there's more people and it's more loud. I thought the energy in this rink was unbelievable. When we scored that game-tying goal, it was so loud in here and then the overtime winner was twice as loud. It's really fun to be here and see that.”