MONTREAL — Nick Suzuki leads quietly, but his presence is loudest when the Montreal Canadiens need him most.
“When our group needs a push or a big moment, he comes through,” teammate Alex Newhook said. “He takes it upon himself.”
The Canadiens will turn to their captain for a spark Wednesday night against the Washington Capitals. Trailing 3-1 in their first-round playoff series, Montreal faces elimination in Game 5 at Washington's Capital One Arena.
In his third season as captain, Suzuki spearheaded Montreal’s playoff push. The 25-year-old’s team-leading 89 points — the most by a Canadien since 1995-96 — helped silence doubts about Montreal’s decades-long search for a true No. 1 centre.
In September, Suzuki thought critics were sleeping on the Canadiens, a team expected to miss the playoffs for a fourth consecutive season.
Tired of watching teammates join Stanley Cup contenders each spring, Suzuki also asked general manager Kent Hughes in February not to sell at the March 7 trade deadline, even though the Canadiens lagged behind the playoff picture.
"I'm glad he did that,” said defenceman Kaiden Guhle, who only found out about Suzuki’s demand once it became public knowledge.
“He doesn't say a whole lot, but he knows. He has such a good sense of the room and what guys want and what guys need. That's your captain."
Hughes told Suzuki to win games — and the captain delivered.
The Canadiens won five consecutive contests to kick-start a 15-5-6 run after the 4 Nations Face-Off break. Suzuki, left off Canada’s roster, tallied 37 points in 26 games to rank fourth in the NHL during that stretch.
"What I love about Suzy is, he backed it up,” head coach Martin St. Louis said. “He validated why he didn't want him to break up the team."
Suzuki scored five overtime goals this season. In a miraculous comeback against the Florida Panthers on April 1, he tallied the tying goal with nine seconds left before burying the OT winner.
His 30th goal against the Carolina Hurricanes in the final game of the regular season also helped Montreal clinch a spot in the playoffs.
“Since we started this rebuild, we've had some hard days,” Suzuki said that night. “For our group to come together like this this season and put together this effort to make the playoffs, when a lot of people doubted us, I'm very impressed."
Suzuki has a long history of coming up clutch.
Before reaching the NHL, he won the Ontario Hockey League playoff MVP with the Guelph Storm in 2019, when Guelph rallied from 3-0, 3-1 and 2-0 deficits in three straight rounds to capture the OHL title.
Suzuki, then 21, also scored the Game 5 overtime winner when the Canadiens came back from 3-1 down in the 2021 first-round series against the Toronto Maple Leafs.
"That's what he's been in his entire career, going back to his junior days. That's what we heard about him. Clutch player,” veteran forward Brendan Gallagher said. “Showed up big time, scored big goals in our playoff runs that we've had here. He's been that guy.
“We have an insane amount of confidence in him that game after game, he'll show up and do the job."
Suzuki became the youngest captain in Canadiens history — and their 31st overall — on Sept. 12, 2022. St. Louis has watched him grow into that role, while keeping the same essence.
“It’s been a constant evolution of the way Suzy’s gonna lead off the ice as he keeps getting older and more experienced, but I don’t think the prime approach of Suzy’s leadership is gonna change,” St. Louis said. “He’s gonna be a player that pulls the group with his action on the ice.”
The Capitals have held Suzuki to two goals through four games. Head coach Spencer Carbery has openly tried to find the right matchups to shut down the “high-end” line of Suzuki, Cole Caufield and Juraj Slafkovsky.
The trio combined for three goals and 19 shots in a 6-3 win Friday in Game 3. Caufield and Slafkovsky also scored on the power play in Game 4, but the Capitals limited the line’s damage at 5-on-5 in a 5-2 victory Sunday.
Montreal hopes its top guys are at their best in Game 5, starting with Suzuki.
THE FUTURE IS NOW
Atlantic Division foes might be getting a glimpse of Montreal’s power play for the next decade.
Slafkovsky, Ivan Demidov and Lane Hutson — average age of 20.33 — combined on a power-play goal in Game 4. Caufield, 24, added another.
Suzuki is the oldest member of the first unit while Patrik Laine nurses an upper-body injury.
“We got everything that we need to be a good power play," Suzuki said.
PAST HISTORY
The viral Game 3 bench melee between Washington’s Tom Wilson and Montreal’s Josh Anderson was the latest chapter in a long-running rivalry.
Anderson and Wilson fought earlier this season on Oct. 31, marking their second NHL fight. The two hulking wingers also dropped the gloves twice in the OHL.
“I remember playing him in London, I don’t remember specifics,” Wilson said. “You know what you’re going to get with him, he’s doing his job.”
This report by The Canadian Press was first published April 29, 2025.
Daniel Rainbird, The Canadian Press
