On Friday night, for the first time since Nick Suzuki first pulled a Sainte Flanelle over his head, the Montreal Canadiens had to play a regular-season game without him. In Illinois to face the Chicago Blackhawks, they jumped out to the dreaded two-goal lead, something they haven’t handled well even with their captain there to steer the ship. This time, they remained the aggressors through the entire third period, even though they went into it with that dreaded cushion. It was mission accomplished, as they managed to get a regulation win, which haven’t been easy to come by in their first 10 games.
There is no way to replace Nick Suzuki in your lineup, unless you can magically conjure up an elite, world-class centre. But, as Brad Pitt’s famous line in Moneyball goes; “maybe what we can do is re-create him. Re-create him in the aggregate.” Production like last night’s from Jake Evans would go a long way to that end.
Absolute heater from Jake Evans makes it 2-1 #Habs
LOL at the ref really not wanting to call it a goal. https://t.co/YXxzPJf25W
— Matt Drake (@DrakeMT) October 24, 2026
This was one of the best games he has ever played in a Habs uniform. His role is generally a thankless one; handling tough minutes that tend to come with little glory, or praise outside of lifelong die-hards who understand the complexity of what he is asked to do. But now, Suzuki’s absence shines a spotlight is on every single player who lines up in the middle of the ice. Evans rose to the occasion in Chicago, putting two goals in while pivoting a line that barely allowed Chicago to touch the puck, let alone do anything of substance with it.
Some credit is certainly due to Owen Beck and Kirby Dach, who were equally involved in that line being a problem for the Blackhawks. And that brings us back to the concept of re-creating Suzuki in the aggregate; it can’t be done by one player, it will have to be done by a handful of his teammates, and it may well be different players from night to night.
Most of the top-line centre minutes went to Oliver Kapanen, with some occasional shifts of Phillip Danault peppered in there. Figuring out ways to replace Suzuki’s production will likely require some experimentation, and they will need their fourth line to be as dependable as possible while they do that. It will take more than Evans, but him kicking his own game into high gear would be a huge factor in this team getting healthy while maintaining a strong record.
We know he can go on some scoring streaks, and there couldn’t possibly be a better time for him to start one of those.
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