Canadiens' Juraj Slafkovsky makes his feelings about being benched during Habs-Blue Jackets extremely clear

By Abhilasha Aditi

Modified Nov 20, 2024 14:20 GMT

Juraj Slafkovsky made his feelings clear after being benched in the Montreal Canadiens' 5-1 win over the Columbus Blue Jackets at Bell Centre on Saturday. Slafkovsky was moved to the fourth line late in the second period by head coach Martin St. Louis. He was then benched for most of the third period.

Slafkovsky was frustrated with the decision.

"Obviously, I wanted to play and I was a little mad at myself," Juraj Slafkovsky said, as per Priyanta Emrith on X. "Because I knew I had a couple of bad shifts. But yeah, just move on and focus on the next game. it's already in the past..."

Juraj Slafkovsky understood the decision was made to help the team hold the lead.

"I’m still 20, but it’s my third year and expectations are higher," he said.

Teammate Cole Caufield gave Slafkovsky some support during the benching.

"He's a great guy; it was a little chat, nothing crazy. He's a great guy and always by my side so it was nice." Slafkovsky said on Caufield.

Despite the frustration, Juraj Slafkovsky is looking ahead to improve in future games.

Despite Juraj Slafkovsky's benching, the Canadiens defeated the Blue Jackets

The Montreal Canadiens defeated the Columbus Blue Jackets 5-1, with Mike Matheson leading the way with a goal and an assist. Their goaltender Sam Montembeault made 25 saves.

Matheson scored the first goal at 4:59 of the first period with a slap shot on the power play. Cole Caufield set him up with a perfect pass. Dante Fabbro tied the game 1-1 at 7:40 of the second period. He scored with a slap shot from the blue line. It was his first goal since joining Columbus.

Nick Suzuki gave Montreal a 2-1 lead at 15:49 of the second period. He fired a wrist shot past Daniil Tarasov after a pass from Joel Armia.

“I thought we were hard to play against for most of the game, minus probably the first nine minutes of the second period,” St. Louis said, as per NHL.com. “We were hard on the forecheck.”

In the third period, Lucas Condotta scored at 11:04, making it 3-1. His one-timer from the left circle came off another assist from Armia. Jake Evans increased the lead to 4-1 at 12:52. He scored his 100th NHL point with a goal set up by Caufield.

Josh Anderson scored the final goal at 15:55. Matheson’s slap shot deflected off him during a power play to make it 5-1. The Canadiens have now won two of their last three games after a rough six-game losing streak.