Stu Cowan: A welcome respite for Canadiens workhorse Nick Suzuki

After Tuesday night’s game at the Bell Centre against the Ottawa Senators, the Canadiens will enjoy an eight-day vacation during the all-star break.

They won’t be back on the ice again until next Thursday in Brossard when they will practise ahead of back-to-back Super Bowl weekend matinée games against the New York Islanders next Saturday and the Edmonton Oilers next Sunday. Both games will be 12:30 p.m. starts.

The one player who won’t get a long vacation is captain Nick Suzuki, the only Canadien who will take part in this weekend’s All-Star Game events in Florida, with the skills competition on Friday and the three-on-three tournament on Saturday.

Suzuki is the one Canadiens player who could probably use a vacation the most. This is the second straight season he will represent the Canadiens at the All-Star Game, playing for the Atlantic Division team in the three-on-three tournament.

The first-year captain is one of only three Canadiens to play in all 51 games this season, along with Kirby Dach and Christian Dvorak. Suzuki was the only Canadien to play in all 82 games last season.

Heading into Tuesday night’s game, Suzuki was leading the Canadiens in scoring with 16-22-38 totals and was averaging 21:20 of ice time per game, by far the most of the team’s forwards. Kirby Dach ranked second with an average of 18:13. Suzuki also led all forwards in power-play ice time, with an average of 3:38, and ranked fifth in short-handed ice time, averaging 1:35.

With seven regular forwards on the injured list, Suzuki’s ice time has increased in recent games and he has had more penalty-killing and faceoff responsibilities because of the injury to fellow centre Jake Evans. Suzuki has won 48 per cent of his faceoffs this season.

“Some minutes have increased lately just playing with less players and going out for more faceoffs,” Suzuki said after practice Monday in Brossard. “Don’t really have another righty other than Dacher to take faceoffs. Usually, Jake kind of eats up those minutes. Just trying to play consistent, generate as much as I can and play hard every night.”

While Suzuki has continued to play hard every night, his offensive production has dropped off.

Before facing the Senators, Suzuki had only one goal in the previous 19 games. He had six assists during that span and a minus-13 differential, dropping his season plus/minus to minus-16 — the second worst on the team behind defenceman Joel Edmundson’s minus-21.

Suzuki also won’t have regular linemate Cole Caufield for the rest of the season. Caufield, who leads the Canadiens with 26 goals, will have season-ending surgery on his right shoulder Wednesday.

While Suzuki continues to lead the Canadiens in scoring, he had fallen to 92nd in NHL scoring through Monday’s games. The fact the Canadiens have the worst power play in the NHL, with a 14.8 per cent success rate before facing the Senators, hasn’t helped. The Canadiens were 1-for-20 on the power play in the previous five games before facing the Senators.

“It’s definitely a change,” Suzuki said about playing the last four games without Caufield before facing the Senators. “Just trying to build chemistry with other guys and playing in a different spot on the power play, so it’s been pretty good so far. With Cole in the lineup, it’s obviously better, but got to do it with what you can. Just trying to play my game.

“I want to play well, play a good 200-foot game,” Suzuki added after practice Monday. “The production hasn’t been there as of late, but I’ve had a bunch of chances the last few games. Missed an open net last game. The power play’s working around better and getting chances. Could have easily been different the last few games. I’ve just got to stay confident and keep going.”

Suzuki has missed a couple of practices recently for treatment days, but said he’s “pretty close” to 100-per-cent healthy.

“It’s not an excuse,” he said. “There’s a lot of guys playing banged up and you just kind of get used to it. … That’s the grind of the NHL. You just prepare your body through the summer.”

Head coach Martin St. Louis noted that Suzuki will be able to take three or four days off after the All-Star Game and added that as a player, taking 10 days off between games with your feet up relaxing probably isn’t a good thing.

While Suzuki could probably use a break sitting on a beach somewhere — as many of his teammates will be doing during the next week — he’s excited about going to his second All-Star Game.

“I’ll get a few days’ (rest),” he said. “Going to the All-Star Game is a great experience. Just trying to make the most of it and have as much fun as I can. Just to be around the best players in the league and guys that I’ve looked up to.

“It’s going to be a good time and just soak it all in.”

scowan@postmedia.com

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