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Canadiens Postgame

Montreal Canadiens Waste Fantastic Ivan Demidov Debut

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montreal canadiens fans celebrate ivan demidov goal via screenshot

The Montreal Canadiens hosted the Chicago Blackhawks on Monday night, and though it was an opportunity to finally punch their ticket for playoff hockey, all eyes were on top prospect Ivan Demidov.

The 19-year-old made his NHL debut, playing on the second line alongside Alex Newhook and Joel Armia.

Of course, Demidov was dealing with a lot of hype prior to puck drop, putting a little more pressure on the shoulders of the talented forward, but such is life in Montreal. Fortunately for all involved, it took Demidov just two shifts before registering his first point, and a handful of shifts before he scored his first NHL goal.

The Canadiens ended up pushing the game to extra time, but the Blackhawks ended up taking home a 4-3 win, as the Habs failed to score during their three opportunities. Demidov was not given an opportunity to shoot.

Unfortunately, the game also featured a significant mistake by the referees, which is a common theme in the NHL.

Let’s dive into the highlights!

It’s Demidov Time

Demidov’s first point displayed his fantastic playmaking, as well as his high-end vision and anticipation. The 19-year-old drove the puck down low before delivering a perfect pass to Newhook. His veteran linemate did not hesitate, scoring a crucial goal to give the Habs a 1-0 lead.

I know we’ve hyped Demidov to the moon in recent months, and some were rolling their eyes at yet another Canadiens prospect being oversold, but there’s a reason why so many analysts suggested the Canadiens were a team to watch, and that’s because they had prospects such as Demidov and Lane Hutson. It’s fair to say neither has disappointed.

Crank It Up A Notch

Demidov would go on to score his first NHL goal just a few minutes later, capitalizing on an Armia tip prior to a dump-in, which gave him plenty of time to tuck the puck behind Arvid Soderblom.

All things considered, you’d have a hard time writing a better script for an NHL debut. Demidov’s goal also reminded Canadiens fans that the best is yet to come. At 19 years old, we have at least one decade of Demidov plays ahead of us.

This is just the beginning of the beginning.

Reality Check

The Demidov show was entertaining, but the rest of the lineup failed to match his intensity, and the Blackhawks quickly erased Montreal’s 2-0 lead. To make matters worse, Lukas Reichel gave the Blackhawks the lead early in the third period, putting all the pressure the home team.

Remember, the Blackhawks had nothing to lose, whereas the Habs were yet to clinch a playoff berth.

It’s only fair to mention Demidov did not look great on the play, though that’s perfectly normal for a player with just a few minutes of NHL experience. He’ll need more time before feeling comfortable without the puck.

Rookie Domination

Another rookie took the lead at that point, but it wasn’t Demidov.

Hutson opted to drive the net, as the Blackhawks gave him plenty of real estate to work with in the final few minutes of the third period. Rather than shooting, as everyone expected, Hutson dished the puck to Cole Caufield, who didn’t take the best shot, but it ended up deflecting off Juraj Slafkovsky before finding the back of the net.

It started pretty, and ended ugly, but with playoffs on the line, it doesn’t matter how the Canadiens get it done.

It should also be noted Hutson registered his 65th point of the season, passing Chris Chelios to establish the highest-scoring season from a rookie defenceman in franchise history.

Playoff Situation

It’s pretty simple.

With the point, the Habs are still in the driver’s seat, but they haven’t qualified for the playoffs. The Columbus Blue Jackets must win both games in regulation, and the Canadiens must lose their final game of the season to miss the cut.

The Montreal Canadiens are back in action on Wednesday. They will face the Carolina Hurricanes, with the puck drop scheduled for 7 pm ET. All Montreal Canadiens statistics are 5v5 unless otherwise noted, via Natural Stat Trick.

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Samuel

The odds might be 87% or whatever but honestly it’s a coin toss at this point.

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mikey_sl

Hard to say…CBJ waving the “lets do it for gaudreau” flag ….and shove it up Laine’s tucass!!

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Tyrone

OOOOOOOHHHHHH SHHHIIIIT!!!!

I was terrified this would happen. I’m disappointed that we didn’t play with any urgency again. We should have absolutely swarmed the Blackhawks tonight and it was more lackadaisical play. I would not count on getting a point in Carolina, so we’re going to have to hope and pray that the Blue Jackets stumble, but I wouldn’t count on that either. They’re playing on the Johnny Gaudreau inspirational story. And, you don’t think Patrick Roy might help his team lay an egg so the Isles lose to Columbus, as a way to stick it to the franchise? I feel sick.

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Harry

This loss is on St. Louis.

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mikey_sl

I think I agree with Blaming MSL on this one.
Riding his vets so hard.

first Dobes deserved the net after the game in Toronto and monty blowouts game in Ottawa..he simply has not played well recently…excuses aside. 2 of the goals tonight should have not gone in…of course if we had any scorers… starting Dobes tonight was a no brainer… give monty another days rest so he is ready for Carolina… now it will be a tired Monty going down on his knees giving up the top of the net…

Second: WTF was Guhle doing.. that is simply STUPID with a two goal lead. No excuses MSL should have calmed them all down before the hit..

3rd: not only does matheson pass the puck to Chi but then compounds the dumb play by taking a penalty!!

Matheson, guhle, carrier are overworked because MSL wont bench Savard and can only play him in certain positions… he looks like bugs bunny when the tazmanian devil is chasing all the animals past him..

Nick must be hurt because only slaf showed up for 3 periods tonight… he deserved the garbage goal for all his battles that went for naught.

Its too late now.. MSL will roll out the same TIRED lineup because he is afraid that he will get roasted if he does any of the following

  • Bench laine
  • Bench Savard
  • Bench Armia (hurt or not he is basically useless these days)
  • Start Dobes
  • Start Xhekaj

I am angry when I should be “content” that they have had a very good season and will get better. This years version of the Dead Things…

… it will be a good learning experience….dealing with pressure and expectations.

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Tony

Totally agree with Tyrone, who bemoaned a lack of urgency in the Habs. That’s all coaching. Just like the poor starts by the Habs the last dozen games. If a team is unprepared, it’s on the coach.

Speaking of coaching, we all saw on perfect display the abysmal coaching and player development skills of SKA head coach Roman Rotberg tonight on the Chicago 3rd goal. The Hawks blocked Demidov’s shot and broke out of their zone. Hutson retreated covering the puck carrier, but Ivan Demidov (who I believe will be the greatest player in a generation on this team, so this is not a knock on him but on his poor development by Rotberg) just glided back and let Reichel skate past him and score. At the same time, Kaiden Guhle started from the Chicago goal-line and busted his butt all the way up the ice, passing Demidov and nearly blocking Reichel’s shot. Demidov will learn. But it was a striking scene.

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Alex Barrette

Good thing is, Carolina will be resting top players and have nothing to gain from winning this game. So they’ll be probably playing to not get injured.
Only one point needed.

Plus Columbus having to win both game in regular time is a tough feat… specially on the road against team in the same division.

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Dana

Chicago has been rolling the last few weeks. Nazar, Rinzel and Levshenov all rookies and all looked excellent and Greene played well in his debut. Goalie was also good. They are a year or two behind us in the rebuild but a team we need to be aware of. So yes there were issues on our side like giving up a 2 goal lead but they never quit and earned a road win. Lineup issues are like everything else, you can’t please everyone so Marty does what every head coach does and picks a lineup on all the info he has. I’m one that is not in agreement with him but nobody including MSL cares.

I’d still rather be in our position than Columbus’s.

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