Locked On Canadiens - Daily Podcast on the Montreal Canadiens · Scott Matla, Locked On Podcast Network, Laura Saba

SOFT?: Habs Captain Calls Out CASUAL Effort in COMEBACK Win vs. Panthers

April 8, 2026·31 min·2 clips

Nick Suzuki called his own line 'pretty brutal all night' and said 'we were soft as a group' — after the Canadiens had already won in a shootout.

1. Locked On Canadiens host Ian Boisvert covers Montreal's 2025-26 regular-season finish, specifically the shootout win over Florida on April 7. 2. Ian hosts solo; co-host Laura Saba was attending a Montreal Victoire game and the show notes her absence. 3. The episode's central argument is that Nick Suzuki's 'soft' postgame comment represents the team's shift to a genuine playoff-contender mentality. 4. Montreal trailed or was tied for the entire game against Florida, never leading at five-on-five, and Cole Caulfield was held without a shot on goal for approximately two periods. 5. Kirby Doak returned from a lineup scratch and immediately took a stick near his eye in the first period, requiring a trip down the tunnel before returning; Ian attributes the resulting double minor to a review mechanism. 6. Alexandre Texier was also reinserted and placed immediately on the second line; Ian argues his skating style fits alongside Demidov, who he sees as the driver of that unit at five-on-five. 7. Nick Suzuki's tying goal came with under a minute remaining after Lane Hudson cut back behind the goaltender and pulled Callum Booth out of position, leaving an open net. 8. Montreal took a power play into overtime but could not convert the four-on-three, a recurring weakness Ian calls a 'thorn in their side' all season. 9. In the shootout, Doak scored, Texier wired one top-shelf, and Dobish made both saves including a pad save on Bennett after missing the poke check. 10. Dobish finished 30 for 33 despite three goals against, and Ian argues his .909 save percentage in a loss-column game illustrates why the Canadiens play with a confidence they have not had since Carey Price. 11. Ian contends Dobish's willingness to come out and play the puck is a playoff-specific weapon because it can prevent opposing forwards from establishing offensive-zone cycles via board rims. 12. Montreal has now won eight straight against the Florida Panthers, which Ian describes as 'certifiably insane' given Florida's playoff pedigree. 13. Nick Suzuki's postgame quote, sourced from reporter Priyanta Emmerth, reads: 'It started with my line. I was pretty brutal all night. Until I had the easiest goal of probably my career there. We were soft as a group.' 14. Ian draws on the Arpan Basu and Marcus van Godin podcast 'The Best and Good End Notebook' to contextualize 'soft' as a deliberately chosen word in hockey culture with strong emotional force. 15. He argues that the same result in December would have prompted a measured response; the fact that Suzuki said it on April 7 with four games before the playoffs signals a changed standard. 16. Caden Gooley missed the game as a 'treatment day' — a phrasing Ian notes he cannot recall the team using before, distinct from the usual 'day-to-day,' which he interprets as possible load management. 17. Mike Matheson played what Ian calls a 'magic Mike' game — one of his best of the season — against his former team Florida, and Ian suggests Matheson still has a score to settle with his old club. 18. The defensive pairs were mostly unchanged; Hudson picked up an assist on the tying goal; Engstrom earned his first NHL point; and Ian argues Arber Xhekaj's physical presence remains an irreplaceable deterrent that no one else on the blue line provides. 19. Canadiens fans following the team's push for the Atlantic Division lead and a deep playoff run will find detailed lineup analysis and the emotional context around Suzuki's captaincy here. 20. Listeners who primarily want scoreboard results without extended lineup-rotation discussion will find the show's depth more than they need.

As heard by us

Suzuki's 'soft' comment gives Montreal's comeback a sharper edge.

A Montreal win gives the episode its frame, but Nick Suzuki's postgame line is what lingers. When he says the Canadiens were too casual and thought they were soft as a group, the conversation treats it as more than a throwaway quote.

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Why you'd press play

Suzuki turns a comeback win into a warning.

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