NHL: Montreal Canadiens at Calgary Flames, forward ivan demidov
Credit: Sergei Belski-Imagn Images

The Montreal Canadiens were in Vancouver on Saturday, facing the Canucks while trying to erase the bad memories from their frustrating loss to the Edmonton Oilers on Thursday.

The Habs spotted the Canucks a 2-0 lead, but a fantastic effort by rookie Ivan Demidov allowed the Canadiens to emerge with a 4-3 win.

Let’s dive into the highlights!

Goaltending Situation

Before we get going, we should discuss the decision by head coach Martin St-Louis to turn to his backup, Jakub Dobes, rather than his usual starter, Samuel Montembeault.

Dobes getting a few more starts isn’t a goaltending controversy. Montembeault will end up playing better at some point, which will lead to more starts, and it won’t be a controversy then, either. But if St-Louis ignored Dobes’ superior stats to start the season, you’d have reason to suggest there’s a problem.

It doesn’t erase how important Montembeault has been to the franchise in the last few seasons, but this is professional sports, not a camping trip. It would be a sin overlook the athlete who is currently providing the team with much better odds of winning.

Bad Luck Gone Worse

We shouldn’t remove any of the credit from the Canucks, as they were far and away the best team on the ice in the first 40 minutes of the game. Vancouver held a 9-0 edge in high-quality chances in the first period, and 4-3 edge in the second period.

For a very brief moment, it seemed that the Canadiens were poised to tie the game, but Josh Anderson hit the post while shorthanded, followed shortly by Vancouver establishing a 2-0 lead.

Demidov Factor

As per usual, rookie Ivan Demidov was doing his best to drive the offence, however, there isn’t much he can do when the referee gets caught up in the play.

Demidov did manage to inject a little energy into the mix shortly thereafter, putting his high-end anticipation and play-making skills on full display.

This time around it was Nick Suzuki who benefited from the rookie’s offensive prowess, scoring his second goal of the year, and extending his scoring streak to nine games in the process.

Montreal Canadiens Improvements

Demidov was not done there. He took advantage of a broken play to set up Juraj Slafkovsky for his fourth goal of the season, and Montreal’s second powerplay marker of the game.

It’s no coincidence that Montreal’s first powerplay unit has looked much more dangerous since they’ve added Demidov to the mix. He’s arguably the team’s best playmaker when there’s a little extra ice available.

Defenceman Mike Matheson then took advantage of the momentum to give the Canadiens a precious 3-2 lead, yet another example of his excellent play to start the season.

And that’s when Demidov decided he wanted to register his name on the scoresheet for the third time of the game, scoring his second goal of the year via a nice one-timer, and giving the Canadiens an important two-goal cushion late in the third period. The Canucks cut the lead to just one in the dying minutes of the third, but it was all for naught, as Demidov’s marker ended up being the game-winning goal.

Additional Montreal Canadiens Notes And Statistics

  • It’s one thing to play well on the fourth line, or relatively well, anyhow, but it’s another entirely to get caved in at 5v5. To make matters worse, Joe Veleno took a terrible penalty almost 200 feet away from his goalie, leading to the 2-0 goal for the Canucks. There’s no denying it, he’s had a hard time finding his rhythm with the Canadiens this season.
  • At some point, the Habs will need to receive a little offence from plays that don’t include a pass from Nick Suzuki or Ivan Demidov. It’s not sustainable to rely on a few players every night.
  • I got a good chuckle out of Evander Kane’s confusing arrogance following his clear-cut penalty on Cole Caufield. He was dumbfounded that the referees decided to penalize him.
  • Every once in a while, Suzuki will get hit. It doesn’t happen often, because he possesses the core strength of an old-growth oak tree, but when it does, he quickly gets back on his feet and skates faster than the player who hit him.
  • Don’t look now, but Dobes remains undefeated (5-0-0). He’s the first goalie in league history to start back-to-back seasons with a 5-0-0 record.

The Montreal Canadiens will be back in action on Thursday, facing the Kraken in Seattle. The puck drop is scheduled for 10:30 pm ET.

All Montreal Canadiens statistics are 5v5 unless otherwise noted, via Natural Stat Trick.

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By Marc Dumont
Marc has been covering the Habs for over a decade. He previously worked for Journal Metro, The Athletic, The ... More about Marc Dumont

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