The Montreal Canadiens embarrassed the Arizona Coyotes with a 6-2 win at the Bell Centre on Thursday, giving the home crowd a show for the ages in this young NHL season.
The Canadiens’ young core shined as they scored, punched, taunted and waved their way to a dominant victory to improve their record to 3-2-0.
Here are the highlights of a memorable night under the bright lights in Montreal.
Xhekaj ragdolls Kassian
Habs rookie defenseman Arber Xhekaj has officially introduced himself to the NHL.
The Canadiens jumped out to an early 3-0 lead, and Arizona forward Zack Kassian went out looking to give his team a spark by riling up his opponents.
He found a willing customer in Xhekaj.
Kassian quickly regretted his decision as Xhekaj landed a couple of clean right hooks right off the bat. Kassian couldn’t escape Xhekaj’s barrage. The 21-year-old shifted to body shots and ended the bout by rag-dolling the veteran at centre-ice in front of a raucous Bell Centre crowd.
Kassian left the ice following the tilt, seemingly nursing a finger injury, whereas Xhekaj was no worse for wear and went to the box to serve his five-minute fighting penalty. He got an ovation during the commercial break as he skated back to the Canadiens’ bench.
Xhekaj made sure he let everyone know he’s not to be messed with when speaking to reporters post-game.
Fellow rookie Juraj Slafkovsky also let everyone in the arena know how it feels to have the hulking defenseman protecting him and his teammates on the ice.
Slafkovsky is on the board
The first overall pick of the 2022 NHL Draft, Slafkovsky finally notched his first career goal in his fifth contest to break the ice on what should be a promising career.
During the second period of the game, Slafkovsky picked up a loose puck in the offensive zone and stepped towards the net before firing a wrist shot past Connor Ingram.
Just before his first NHL tally, the Habs’ rookie was hit high by Coyotes defenseman Josh Brown, which prompted Slafkovsky to celebrate his goal by shouting at Brown seconds after scoring. Please excuse his French.
After the goal and the stare-down celebration, Slafkovsky waved to the Bell Centre crowd, basking in the moment after his first NHL goal.
Slick Nick turns on the flair
Captain Nick Suzuki wanted in on the Canadiens’ domination over the Coyotes and got the perfect opportunity during the second period.
After Suzuki was hauled down by Coyotes forward Clayton Keller on the penalty kill to earn a penalty shot, the 23-year-old dazzled the crowd as he pulled off his best Pavel Datsyuk impression, flipping the puck over goaltender Connor Ingram’s shoulder for his second goal of the season.
His teammates up in the press box couldn’t believe their eyes as they celebrated the goal along with the a joyous crowd in the arena.
The Canadiens may not be a contender this season, with many expecting Martin St. Louis’ squad to figure in the tank for Connor Bedard. But with a young, exciting team hitting the ice on a nightly basis, fans are in for many more entertaining nights throughout the 2022-23 campaign.
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