On the plus side, the Montreal Canadiens don’t have to worry about facing the last Chicago Blackhawks, who have no wins in the playoffs this season. On the negative side, Ivan Demidov made a lot of long-awaited debuts after defeating Habs at Bale Center on Monday, with home playoff wishes still in a difficult position overall.
Game review
Blackhawks forward Frank Nazar scored a decision goal in the gunfight and was initially ruled to be targetless. It was only discovered that after Blackhawks goalkeeper Arvid Soderblom stopped Patrik Laine’s attempt, Nazar put the puck into the net, and Teuvo Teravainen would be his turn. He and everyone else (except Nazar), missed their attempts and opened the calendar year with a 4-2 victory, which gave the Blackhawks a good win, their second win this season to beat Habs.
Soderblom is the difference in the game, saving 38 times. He scored 18 points in the game, while his opponent Sam Montembeault scored 22 points. Overall, Demidov stole the spotlight, at least until Nazar suffered a sensation in the Stanley Cup (playoff) parade team in Montreal.
Related: Blackhawks vs Canadains projection lineup – 4/14/25
Demidov scored goals and assists, both coming in the first stage. Alex Newhook was stationed in front of the net and opened up the score for six minutes by burying Demidov’s feed, who stood out in the game. The 2024 fifth minute draft pick added his first NHL goal 7.5 minutes after he poured the final board into the finish line to surpass Soderblom to lead 2-0. However, this is short-lived.
Tyler Bertuzzi pulled the Blackhawks to the Blackhawks one late in the frame, and Nazar even pulled them in the second end, with each goal in the power play. Lukas Reichel took the first lead of the Blackhawks in Game 3 early in the third break, leaving everyone in the meeting with the Canadiens playoff berth hanging.
When Murphy was called to hang Newhook in less than four minutes of the game, the Canadians needed to win any victory to rest. In the subsequent power match, Lane Hutson went on to set up Caufield for the match tying goal, which deflected in Juraj Slafkovsky. The assists were ultimately Hutson’s 65th point this season, setting a new Canadian rookie defender’s single-season scoring record (obviously not resolved) as he passed Chris Chelios to help bring the game to overtime.
39-31-11 The Canadians remained in the second Eastern Conference universal tablet, earning extra points on the ninth-placed Columbus blue jacket. Jacket has 85 games left and needs to win the remaining two games to have a chance to surpass Habs.
In their case, the Canadians were at home against the Carolina Hurricanes at the end of Wednesday’s regular season, and even if they only need one point, they had to win with a relative victory. The last 24-46-11 Blackhawks played their last game in the Central Division, and tomorrow night on the road to visit the Ottawa Senators. Nazar also received an assist, with Joel Armia (two assists) reaching a game-high two points in the night. Blackhawks forward Ryan Greene, who ranked 57th in the 2022 NHL entry draft, also made his debut in the game.
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