Nick Suzuki’s awareness has him playing a different game

Photo by Mark Blinch/NHLI via Getty ImagesThe win would have been nice, but we can’t say that the Montreal Canadiens’ lineup didn’t live up to expectations. They did — for the most part. We knew what brand of hockey the team would play going into the season, the same pressure-heavy, fast-paced, counter-attack style they employed in the previous ones, but on overdrive — bigger, quicker, meaner.

Montreal put the Toronto Maple Leafs on their heels for long periods of time. Even when it looked like the tide could turn, the Canadiens continued to come at the opposition in relentless waves, crashing against the back lines of the Leafs, stealing pucks, and generating rapid scoring chances off those…