The Montreal Canadiens suffered a crushing loss to their bitter rivals, the Toronto Maple Leafs, on Thursday night. The Habs dropped a tough 7-2 decision in which they surrendered all seven goals on 25 shots.
But amid the disappointing showing, one player stood out. Rookie Ivan Demidov proved he’s the real deal. Against the Maple Leafs, Demidov got a huge assist on the second Montreal power play goal.
The goal came midway through the second period. The tally scored by Patrik Laine was the result of Demidov’s unbelievable play in the Maple Leafs’ zone. The Canadiens’ first-round pick undressed the Toronto defense, then fed Laine for the tally.
Here’s a look at the remarkable assist:
The sequence started with the Canadiens gaining the Leafs’ zone. Demidov and Filip Mesar traded the puck before the Russian phenom made the Toronto defense look like they were stuck in quicksand.
The tally momentarily brought the Canadiens to within one goal. However, the Maple Leafs pulled away, scoring twice more in the second to take a 5-2 lead into the second intermission. Toronto added two more in the third period to cap off a big night.
Canadiens Got Good Offensive Game from Demidov Despite Subpar Defense
The Montreal Canadiens got a solid offensive game from Ivan Demidov on Thursday night. He hit the ice for 16:09 minutes across 17 shifts. Every time he touched the puck, Demidov looked like he was possessed.
Despite his strong offensive play, he didn’t have a good night defensively. Demidov registered a minus-3. To be fair, he wasn’t the only one. In total, seven Canadiens players ended the night as a minus-3.
In particular, linemates Laine and Kirby Dach also ended the night at minus-3. That’s a concerning situation as the Canadiens will need to shore up their defensive play to ensure their offensive prowess does not fizzle amid defensive shortcomings.
It’s still early in training camp. But time is running out to tidy up defensive issues.
Goaltending Spoiled Montreal’s Night
While the Canadiens didn’t have their best all-around game, the goaltending left much to be desired.
Starter Samuel Montembeault was on the ice for two periods. He faced 17 shots, surrendering five goals. One of those tallies was a power play goal. While Montembeault looked shaky at times, the five goals weren’t entirely his fault.
The defense in front of him didn’t do a great job of stopping the Maple Leafs’ attack. That trend continued in the third period when 20-year-old Jacob Fowler took over. The Canadiens’ third-round pick from the 2023 NHL Draft surrendered two more goals on six shots.
In particular, he gave up a goal on a great play by Leafs’ AHLer Ryan Tverberg. Tverberg made a great play to split the defense and then fired a rocket past Fowler to make the game 7-2.
The Canadiens will need to get more reliable goaltending moving forward if the team is to compete for a playoff spot. The club must focus on shoring up its defensive shortcomings, or this could be a long season.
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