![\"Canadiens](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/0421-spt-col-toddx-2.jpg\")
Canadiens winger Juraj Slafkovsky celebrates his overtime goal against the Tampa Bay Lightning in Game 1 of first-round playoff series Sunday in Tampa, Fla. Chris O’Meara \/ AP<\/p>\n
Just like that, the big Slovakian went from large to legend. Canadiens fan Susie Q. put it best with her post on Bluesky: \u201cSLAF IS A MOTHER BLEEPING BEAUTY.\u201d<\/p>\n
This being a family newspaper, we\u2019ll let you fill in the bleep.<\/p>\n
In the wake of the hat trick, the nicknames are multiplying like rabbits. Our old friend Denis Fournier came up with Slafsquatch a good while ago, a strong contender backed by a list as long as Slafkovsky\u2019s stick.<\/p>\n
Slaftrick.<\/p>\n
Slafzilla.<\/p>\n
Slafshot.<\/p>\n
Slapshotsky.<\/p>\n
Slafdaddy.<\/p>\n
Slafgoalsky.<\/p>\n
Slafgodsky.<\/p>\n
Hatkovsky.<\/p>\n
Slafs All Folks.<\/p>\n
The multiplying nicknames are funny, but they\u2019re also an indication of something much more profound. The Canadiens have been looking for a superstar skater since forever. They\u2019ve come close a few times, but from Alexei Kovalev through P.K. Subban and Max Pacioretty, it didn\u2019t work out for one reason or another.<\/p>\n
Suddenly, almost out of nowhere, they have a bunch: Nick Suzuki, Cole Caufield, Ivan Demidov, Lane Hutson and Slafkovsky. As much as Caufield was the star of the season with his 51-goal campaign, Slafkovsky\u2019s emergence as a 30-goal, 73-point power forward at age 22<\/a> parallels Peter Mahovlich\u2019s emergence during the 1970s \u2014 but in considerably less time.<\/p>\n More significantly, the Canadiens made a simple, two-word statement Sunday night: \u201cWe\u2019ve arrived.\u201d Up against a big, experienced Washington Capitals team a year ago, they were clearly not ready for prime time. Against another big, experienced team Sunday, they were able to hold their own, shake off an avalanche of early misfortune in the form of questionable penalties and a disallowed Josh Anderson goal, and come back (as they have all season) for the win.<\/p>\n Yes, they\u2019ve earned nothing at this point except confidence and self-respect, but they\u2019ve already won as many games as the Stanley Cup finalists of 2021 were able to win against Andrei Vasilevskiy. These two teams are evenly matched and it could break either way, but I\u2019m sticking with my pre-series prediction that the Canadiens would win it in six games.<\/p>\n Martin St. Louis, meanwhile, will be reminding his players how easily it could have gone the other way.<\/p>\n The Lightning were well on their way to locking it down when Conor Geekie took the mother of all dumb penalties with 1:28 left<\/a> in the second period \u2014 charging at all-world Canadiens defenceman Hutson and cross-checking him in the face. Tampa\u2019s lead at that point was only 2-1, but the shots on goal were 16-5 and Montreal was having trouble mustering anything resembling an attack on Vasilevskiy\u2019s net.<\/p>\n Then stupidity struck. The Bolts clearly had a plan to attempt to run Hutson at every opportunity. That was obvious in their last regular-season meeting when Corey Perry chased Hutson all over the ice. The result on that occasion and again in Game 1 was the same: a stupid, self-inflicted loss.<\/p>\n \u201cWe took four offensive-zone penalties,\u201d coach Jon Cooper said. \u201cThat wasn\u2019t over-aggression. That was stupidity. This is the Stanley Cup playoffs. This isn\u2019t game 62. That\u2019s extremely disappointing.\u201d<\/p>\n Cooper surely embellished that with a few F-bombs when he talked to his team, especially after Jake Guentzel\u2019s hold-my-beer moment when he attempted to top Geekie\u2019s stupidity seizure with one of his own.<\/p>\n Geekie is 21 and a virtual rookie \u2014 Guentzel, my fellow Nebraskan, has seemingly been around since sticks were made of wood. That didn\u2019t keep him from swinging his stick at Kaiden Guhle\u2019s head just as it appeared the teams were headed for 5-on-5 overtime, handing Slafsquatch and his teammates exactly what they needed: a power play.<\/p>\n The result was predictable. We haven\u2019t yet checked with the Forum ghosts to see whether they will join this party, but we have it on higher authority that God Herself is on the side of the Habs.<\/p>\n First, folks down Tampa way have been going out of their way to insult Pope Leo XIV. Second, at the Cath\u00e9drale Saint-Jean-l\u2019\u00c9vang\u00e9liste in St-Jean-sur-Richelieu Sunday evening, a large screen was set up so that parishioners could watch the game from their pews, thus celebrating Quebec\u2019s second religion:<\/p>\n The Habs, baby. The Habs.<\/p>\n Heroes: Juraj Slafkovsky, Juraj Slafkovsky, Juraj Slafkovsky, Josh Anderson, Nick Suzuki, Cole Caufield, Lane Hutson, Kaiden Guhle, Mike Matheson, Jakub Dobes, Nicole Gosling, Gabriela Dabrowski &&&& last but not least, Martin St. Louis.<\/p>\n Zeros: Corey Perry, Conor Geekie, Jake Guentzel, Keith Pelley, MLSE, Auston Matthews, Brady Tkachuk, LIV Golf, Tiger Woods, Wayne Gretzky, Bud Selig Jr., Claude Brochu &&&& last but not least, David Samson and Jeffrey Loria.<\/p>\n Now and forever. <\/p>\n![\"Canadiens'](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/0421-spt-col-toddx.jpg\")
Canadiens\u2019 Juraj Slafkovsky and Cole Caufield celebrate Slafkovsky\u2019s goal against the Lightning during the third period of Game 1 Sunday in Tampa, Fla. Chris O’Meara \/ AP<\/p>\n![\"Canadiens'](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/0421-spt-col-toddx-1.jpg\")
Canadiens\u2019 Juraj Slafkovsky scores overtime winner on Lightning goaltender Andrei Vasilevskiy in Game 1 Sunday in Tampa, Fla. Luis Santana \/ Tampa Bay Times<\/p>\n