Big Performances Up Front | Three Stars of the Week, Habs, Montreal Canadiens, Joel Armia, Nick Suzuki, Tyler Toffoli
ROCKET SPORTS MEDIA — Hello again folks! Welcome back to my weekly article in which I award my three stars of the week for the Montreal Canadiens.
Players will earn points each time they appear as a star in this column and at the end of the year, I will award my three stars of the season. It was another good week for the Canadiens meaning it was another difficult week of choosing three stars of the week. It’s a prime example of a positive problem, but here are the three players who stood out to me this week.
☆ THIRD STAR: Joel Armia
Were it not for a questionable hit from Tyler Myers late in the Habs 7-3 win over the Canucks on Thursday night, Joel Armia very well could have finished higher in my rankings. As it stands, Armia is a pretty easy choice for the third star of the week.
In Thursday night’s win over Vancouver, Armia picked up two goals and two assists for four points. Factor in an assist in the Wednesday night shootout loss to the same Canucks and Armia had a very nice week for himself.
Armia’s continued chemistry with fellow countryman, Jesperi Kotkaniemi, has been evident early this season, with the pair making life miserable for opposing defencemen with their solid possession numbers. It did not translate into goals and production until the beginning of the Vancouver series, but Armia and his line have been a steadying force for the Canadiens early this season.
An unfortunate injury has the immediate future for Armia in doubt, but he was great for the Canadiens this week and his absence, for however long it will be, leave some big shoes to fill for the Habs.
☆ SECOND STAR: Nick Suzuki
I wasn’t worried about my runner-up from the inaugural edition of this column being left out of the stars because I knew I would have plenty of opportunities to write about him. He is Nick Suzuki and he is very good at hockey.
This week it is pretty simple. Suzuki has a point in every game the Canadiens have played so far. He got the Canadiens off and running Saturday night in the finale of the three-game set in Vancouver He also picked up the lone Canadiens shootout goal in the loss earlier in the week.
Nick Suzuki became the 10th @CanadiensMTL player in the last 45 years to record a season-opening point streak of at least six games. #NHLStats pic.twitter.com/DtYZjayXyM
— NHL Public Relations (@PR_NHL) January 24, 2021
Suzuki is as steady as they come at 21 years of age, someone that Claude Julien can trust in all situations. Suzuki just does it all for the Canadiens. Coming out of the bubble in Toronto, it is not surprising to see, but his consistency as a 21-year-old is remarkable. If there were any concerns about a sophomore slump, Suzuki has initially put them to rest.
The bottom line is Nick Suzuki is fun to watch and he has been noticeable in each of the Canadiens six games to this point. He makes things happen, sometimes out of nothing, and I have a suspicion that he will find himself as one of my three stars of the week numerous times throughout the season.
☆ FIRST STAR: Tyler Toffoli
Who else? Tyler Toffoli was incredible this week. He had a hat-trick performance in his first game against his former team Wednesday in Vancouver, followed up with another two goals and an assist in the Thursday night rematch. Toffoli was tremendous in the mini-series in Vancouver, but as noted with Armia, his line was generating good opportunities in the first three games of the season, just not producing.
The beauty of Toffoli’s week is he had three goals at even strength, one on the power play and one short-handed. When he was acquired, Habs fans were thrilled to add a proficient goal-scorer that would primarily help out the power play, but as this week showed, he can find ways to score in all situations.
Toffoli currently finds himself tied for the league lead in goals, alongside Travis Konecny and his former teammate Bo Horvat. In Toffoli, the Canadiens have a player who provides scoring punch in the bottom six. His ability to put pucks in the back of the net will be valuable to alleviate pressure off of Brendan Gallagher, who has been relied upon heavily as one of the only reliable goal-scoring threats the Canadiens had in recent years.
Toffoli gives himself a tough act to follow as the Canadiens depart British Columbia to finally head back home to Montreal for their home opener against the Calgary Flames on Thursday, but I have a feeling he will ride the momentum gained against his former team and keep on being a reliable goal-scoring threat for the Canadiens going forward.
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