Everything was in place for the Montreal Canadiens yesterday.

They were two points away from clinching their place in the playoffs while facing the second worst team in the NHL, the Chicago Blackhawks.

They were playing at home, inside a jam packed Bell Centre that has solidified its reputation as one of, if not the best crowd in the NHL since the 4 nations tournament.

And of course, there was the arrival of Ivan Demidov.

You could feel the (hockey)buzz inside the building with hundreds of fans already wearing a number 93 Demidov jersey. During warmup, when Demidov took his traditional rookie solo warmup, the arena was already at half full as many didn’t want to miss him taking his first strides on NHL ice.

From anywhere else in the NHL, the hype surrounding that player, especially in such an important game for the team, seemed a little bit crazy. A nice family sitting next to me, coming all the way from Maryland to cheer for the Hawks, were trying to understand who on earth was this young man to gather so much attention and love before playing his first shift.

But this is Montreal, and this is a special player. Everyone knew it.

The young man received immediate support from the Habs faithful as they cheered his name as soon as he started his first shift in the NHL. Ivan didn’t make them wait long to answer back to all that love as he got his first NHL point assisting Alex Newhook on his second shift of the game.

A few minutes later, Demidov scored his first NHL goal with a nice fake and a deke against Soderblom, making the Bell Centre roof blow up. A truly magical and special moment, something you’d expect from a movie really. A perfect moment in time, hinting at many more to come for the young Russian phenom.

And then, it stopped being perfect.

Following a penalty to Kaiden Guhle in the second half of the first period, Chicago took over the game’s momentum and carried the play for most of the night afterwards. Despite them having nothing to play for at this point of the season, they looked like the hungrier team on the ice. They turned that 2-0 deficit into a 3-2 lead and finally won the game in the shootout after Frank Nazar made the puck magically disappear into the net forcing the NHL to allow his goal after Montreal's second failed attempt, creating one of the weirdest shootout moments I’ve seen.

When all was said and done, Montreal now sits at 89 points with only one game left to play with only one team still chasing them for that last wildcard spot. The Columbus blue Jackets have 85 points with two games left and need two wins, in regulation, to keep their hopes alive.

I’m personally a big fan of entering the playoffs “by the big door”, winning the games you need to win and not waiting for the other teams to fail. Of course, as long as you make it in, it’s fine, but it’s easier to enter the playoffs with confidence when you’re in a winning mindset.

If the Philadelphia Flyers find it in their hearts to eliminate the Blue Jackets tonight, it will not only confirm the Canadiens playoffs spot, it might also allow Martin St-Louis to rest some players that have been clearly overused and desperately need some rest. It’s rather obvious that this team has given everything it has in the past few weeks to be in the position they are in right now as some players' energy is not at the level you’d hope them to be.

Montreal still has the best odds of making the playoffs, but you can feel everyone being a little nervous after the team lost its last three games while running on fumes. We all know, looking at the big picture, that Montreal’s season is a success, but the disappointment of not making the playoffs after being in full control of their destiny for the last four games of the season would be a tough pill to swallow.

Enjoy the last few games of the 2024-2025 regular season, and here’s to hoping we get to talk about a Demidov vs Ovechkin matchup in the first round of the playoffs. Seems like another one of those perfect moments just waiting to happen.

Thanks alot for reading and have a nice day!

Hugo Brossoit (Scabeh)

Join the Discussion: » 133 Comments » Post New Comment

» Canadiens in control of their destiny

» Slow starts and resilience

» Need more to win the race

» Playing angry

» Sell the old, Make room for the new