The word “playmaker” carries certain associations. It’s the slight player whose body—like the pucks he dishes—slips through tight spots, leaving opponents to grasp at air. And there’s an altruistic element to it, teeing up other people so their goals can be celebrated. You can almost picture the bumper sticker: “Proud parents of a passer.”

With respect to the way he finds open teammates, Alexander Radulov is a quintessential setup man. And regardless of which Montreal Canadien scores when Radulov is on the ice, nobody is more excited than the rambunctious Russian. But when it comes to those other connotations, Radulov doesn’t fit the stereotype. On the first shift of a Saturday night showdown with the Toronto Maple Leafs, he takes a pass on the backhand at the offensive half-wall. When Nazem Kadri moves to mark him, Radulov takes his bottom hand off his stick and drives his arm into the Maple Leaf’s chest, knocking him flat. Radulov then slides the puck back to Shea Weber and cuts for the net. When the defenceman’s shot leads to a loose puck at the side of the goal, Radulov reaches out to collect it, circles behind the goal-line and feathers a precise pass for Max Pacioretty to convert just a few feet from the lip of the crease. As Radulov rocks the Habs celebration circle, Kadri complains to the ref. He just may have a case. The bottom line, though, is that Radulov has once again combined force and finesse to create a goal the way few in the league can.