The Montreal Canadiens have become one of the highest-scoring teams in the league, and much of the credit for this should be given to the team’s top line.
There have been lineup changes, but in this case, we’re discussing the play of Nick Suzuki, Juraj Slafkowski and Cole Caufield, the most productive forwards in the Canadiens’ lineup.
5v5 production
All three members of the first line are on track to record career high points, which is a testament to their development, not to mention the impressive level of chemistry they have built over the past two seasons.
However, they aren’t really producing much at 5v5. Believe it or not, all three players have suffered a significant decline in points per 60 points this season.
Suzuki suffered the biggest losses with Slafkowski and Caufield. It should be noted that he still maintained a good production rate at 5v5, as anything closer to 2.0 points per 60 is generally considered reasonably good.
powerplay production
The most notable increase in scoring has come on the powerplay, where all three players have enjoyed a significant increase in production. However, Slafkowski leads by a significant margin, while Suzuki and Caufield lag behind.
Their individual improvements are reflected in the overall improvements of the team.
In 2024–25, the Canadiens were 21st in the NHL with 7.27 goals per 60 on the power play.
In 2025-26, the Canadiens rank fourth in the NHL with 9.31 ppg/60. This represents an increase of 28.1%.
Montreal Canadiens Brass Tacks
There’s more to scoring on the power play than just having three talented forwards in the mix. Or in Montreal’s case, often involving four forwards.
Having Ivan Demidov on the first power play unit has certainly increased the scoring, however, I would argue that the biggest difference this season has been having two talented power play quarterbacks available: Lane Hutson and Noah Dobson.
For example, Hutson has scored 5.7 points per 60 on the power play, good for fifth among all Canadiens players. As for Dobson, he is producing 4.4 points per 60, another encouraging result when we consider that he is often used on the second powerplay unit.
In that sense, we can certainly give Slafkowski, Suzuki, and Caufield credit for the improvement on the power play, but we also have to share some praise with the defensemen, not to mention the Montreal Canadiens management, which has finally solved one of the team’s most significant issues, the lack of production on the power play.
The Canadiens scored just 2.4 goals per game on the power play last season, good for 17th in the NHL. However, this season that number has increased to 2.8 goals per game, which ranks fourth in the league.
In other words, as usual in hockey, it’s a combination of factors that have led to Montreal’s improved power play ability.
All Montreal Canadiens statistics are via Natural Stat Trick.
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