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Despite the brilliance of Ivan Demidov, the Habs are still not qualified for the playoffs
Félix Forget
Despite the brilliance of Ivan Demidov, the Habs are still not qualified for the playoffs
Credit: Tonight, the Blackhawks were at the Bell Centre to face the Habs. The stakes were high for Martin St-Louis’ men: a win against the (poor) Blackhawks secured a playoff spot for the Montreal team. For the occasion, the Canadiens were counting on a new piece in their lineup: Ivan Demidov was playing his first game […]

Tonight, the Blackhawks were at the Bell Centre to face the Habs. The stakes were high for Martin St-Louis’ men: a win against the (poor) Blackhawks secured a playoff spot for the Montreal team.

For the occasion, the Canadiens were counting on a new piece in their lineup: Ivan Demidov was playing his first game in the NHL, and he had received a monster ovation during the warm-up.

Here is the rest of the locals’ lineup:

On the Blackhawks side, the club didn’t exactly look like an All-Star team.

Here’s what it looked like for the visitors:

Of course, we were watching Demidov tonight… and the young man didn’t take long to make his mark on the game.

He only needed six minutes to get his first point in the NHL, a beautiful assist that benefited Alex Newhook.

And clearly, the kid wanted to put on a show in the first period. After his first point in his career, Demidov wanted to score his first goal…

And he did it just a few minutes later.

That being said, at the end of the first period, the Blackhawks took advantage of a powerplay… and they made the Habs pay.

Tyler Bertuzzi brought the two teams to within one goal of each other.

After 20 minutes, the score was 2-1 in favor of the Habs.

However, in the second period, we saw the Canadiens play in an amorphous way… and the Blackhawks took advantage again.

This time, it was Frank Nazar who scored.

After 40 minutes, the score was 2-2. And the momentum was on the side of the Blackhawks.

The Habs needed a big third period to secure their playoff spot… but they came out flat.

And the Blackhawks made the Habs pay once again: a blocked Ivan Demidov shot turned into a scoring chance for Lukas Reichel, who scored.

However, at the end of the game, the Canadiens took advantage of a powerplay… and the massive attack finally woke up.

Juraj Slafkovský saw a puck deflect off him to tie the game.

We needed overtime to decide between the two teams… but neither team was able to score in the five extra minutes.

Direction shootout.

Cole Caufield missed his chance, but Frank Nazar scored in a goal that initially didn’t count. It was revised a few minutes later.

Patrik Laine and Teuvo Teravainen both missed…

Nick Suzuki had to score to keep his team alive… but he couldn’t do it. The Blackhawks won.

Final score: 4-3 Chicago (TDB)

The Canadiens will play their last game of the regular season on Wednesday, when the Hurricanes will be in town.


Overtime

– Ivan Demidov, in his first NHL game, was the best player on the ice tonight. We can blame him for part of the Blackhawks’ third goal… but without his offensive brilliance, the Canadiens wouldn’t even have been in the game tonight. If Alex Newhook had just a bit more finish, Demidov could have had even more points tonight.

– On Slafkovský’s goal in the end of the third period, Lane Hutson finally beat Chris Chelios’ record for the most assists in a season for a rookie defenseman for the Canadiens. Well done.

– Nick Foligno played a whole game for the Blackhawks. The captain, who could have really taken it easy in a season already over in Chicago, made the Habs’ life extremely difficult tonight.

– Reminder: the Blue Jackets play against the Flyers tomorrow and against the Islanders on Thursday. As soon as the team loses (whether in regulation or overtime), the Canadiens get their playoff spot… but they still need to lose one. The Habs, on the other hand, only need one point on Wednesday against the Hurricanes to qualify.

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