Nick Suzuki Candid with Media About Canadiens’ Slow Starts

Following his team’s 5-4 overtime loss to the Detroit Red Wings last night, Montreal Canadiens’ captain Nick Suzuki admitted to the media: “We didn’t play well enough to win.” During his post-game interview (seen below), Suzuki candidly addressed reporters. He noted the team’s need for improvement and acknowledged the challenges the team faced during the game.

Suzuki Believed His Team Worked Hard, But the First-Period Funk Was the Difference

Suzuki highlighted the team’s hard work. However, he admitted that his team’s subpar performance in the first period cost them the game. As he noted, “We have to claw back in the games, and it’s not where we want to be.” Obviously, by that comment, Suzuki was acknowledging the struggle teams face when they put themselves in a hole and have to try to dig themselves out. Last night, the Canadiens only got partway before sliding to another tough loss.

He was pretty candid. “We obviously fought back hard, but we gotta clean that up a lot.”

The captain expressed disappointment with his team’s early mistakes, particularly the turnovers and gaffs at the blue line. Suzuki described the first period in two tough words – it was “really bad.” He also pointed out that, despite the team’s work to fight back, they had given the Red Wings a 20-minute head start. That makes winning so much more challenging.

The Canadiens Had Five Good Minutes to Start the Game, Then Problems

“I thought we had a pretty good first five minutes, and then just kept turning the puck over, making mistakes at their blue line,” Suzuki shared. “It was a bad first period from us, you know, like the fight of the game, but when you give a whole 20 minutes head start, it’s hard to win.”