Game 82. The entire season came down to one single game. The Montreal Canadiens would call their season a complete success well beyond their hopes of being in the mix, or they would view the final moments as a discouragingly lost opportunity.
All that stood in their way was the Carolina Hurricanes. Montreal needed to learn how to win and they had only one chance left to do it.
And they did. The Canadiens earned a playoff spot with a hard-fought, anxiety-fuelled 4-2 win.
Wilde Horses
The Canadiens have their first pairing for many years to come. When Kaiden Guhle recovered quickly from an operation for a lacerated thigh that left him afraid for his life, he returned to the lineup to find Lane Hutson beside him — the chase for a playoff spot was on.
Guhle has been an absolute beast, laying out massive hits night after night while his partner made an assault on the rookie record book. In game 82, they took over. Guhle scored twice on two gorgeous shots. Hutson counted an assist. They both played solidly in their own zone.
Hutson moved from minus-20 in plus-minus to minus-one to conclude the year. If he weren’t on for 13 empty netters against, Hutson would not have been close to a minus player. He was solid defensively the second half of the season.
However, it is the offence that will live forever in the NHL record books.
Hutson counted 60 assists on the year tying Larry Murphy for the most assists for a rookie rearguard in the history of the league. Hutson is also fourth all time in points for a rookie defender with only Murphy, Brian Leetch and Gary Suter ahead of him.
The first line was another catalyst on the night. The line was plus-3. Nick Suzuki scored a massive goal in the second when it was tied 1-1. Hew finished the year with 89 points. Suzuki was the leader that they needed. He brought his best game when they needed their captain.
Meet the Habs superfan in a league of his own
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Juraj Slafkovsky had another strong game. It was so clear that he is getting smarter on the ice in terms of protecting the puck, getting on the right side of danger, treating each foot that he gains ground as important in winning the moment. Slafkovsky impressed greatly when it was all on the line. He was in front of the net on Guhle’s second goal doing what is right.
Ivan Demidov showed again that he has immense talent. Every time the puck came to him, he had already made his decision what he would do with it. He has an anticipation that you cannot capture looking at highlights from the KHL. The moves that are spectacular are easy to see, but the vision is the thing. It’s so clear that he processes the game at lightning speed.
Other key players were Emil Heineman who made the coach look great for switching him into the lineup. Christian Dvorak was an intelligent, faceoff-winning centre that every team needs. Brendan Gallagher understood the assignment. Mike Matheson kept taking hits to make plays.
Samuel Montembeault looked cool and composed. Mission accomplished.
Wilde Goats
The biggest difficulty as the Canadiens looked for that elusive result in the final week was how inexperienced they were at this exact endeavour. Even the holdovers from the miracle run in 2021 didn’t experience that final moment of achievement because they accepted more teams for the playoffs in that COVID year.
Since then, in the last three seasons, the Canadiens played exactly zero important and meaningful games. The only way to understand how to do this is to actually do this. One of the youngest teams in the league had to rely on their experience in juniors or college trying to win this grand prize.
They were so close to finding the formula in Toronto going to overtime, then against Chicago going to overtime. It must have felt like it wasn’t meant to be. You haven’t deserved to lose when the other club won a skills competition shootout, but that was the fate that ruined them only two nights ago.
Those are the rules, so as a result, it just kept getting more and more elusive. In the first period, the Hurricanes had only the one quality chance when a shot was going wide, but instead bounced off a body in front of the net to count as the tying goal.
More adversity.
They had to continue to fight off the feeling that some hockey god was not interested in their success yet; that what they needed to do was toil more; that the journey to the playoffs wasn’t supposed to be so easy. The Red Wings must have been saying “see how it is”. The Sabres must have been saying “sure as hell we’ve been through this before many times”.
In the second frame, they were tight. Cole Caufield missed a breakaway in the first, then hit the crossbar in the second. Was it not meant to be? In the third period, it wasn’t pretty. They were feeling it. The nerves were there. They had to concentrate on executing.
It can feel like you can’t cross that finish line, but that’s not how it is.
This game isn’t about fortune-telling or tea leaves, it’s about learning how to handle the moment by living the moment. This experience they will carry forever. They will always have it to remind them that it can feel elusive, but keep working, keep using what you’ve been taught, what you have learned, and you can get there.
Game 82. They got there. The playoffs await.
Wilde Cards
This year was surprising. The club overachieved in the regular season. They will not add significant talent to next year’s roster except Ivan Demidov, with an outside shot of David Reinbacher, if he can stay healthy.
Demidov will add five points to the standings with his excellence, but to really see the Canadiens elevate to the next level, a centre to elevate Demidov is the key. In the short term, the club will look for a veteran to fill the second-line centre roll. Long term, if they could find a sure-thing draft pick, they could turn into a league powerhouse. They need just a little bit more star power.
Long-term solutions are found in the NHL draft. They already have Michael Hage completing an outstanding first season at Michigan with a point-per-game, but in the upcoming draft, they need to find another player of an even higher standing. They need some insurance for Hage. The perfect player for Demidov is one with good playmaking ability and strong vision with a solid defensive footprint as well.
The issue in the draft trying to find that player is by the time the Canadiens pick at 13 and 16 16 and 17, the top-tier centres will be gone from the 2025 draft.
There are five centres who could have a long and glorious career with Demidov. They would pile up the points together. They would dominate games. They would turn the club’s second line into a daily discussion of who really is the Canadiens number one line. Demidov and a centre of this top-tier calibre would be that perfect combination to take the rebuild over the top.
The Canadiens need to package their two first-round picks, even throw in a sweetener like Owen Beck, to acquire one of the top-five centres in this draft. The trade may even be made on the draft room floor as General Manager Kent Hughes sees who is available at seven through 10 as draft day progresses. These five potential first line centres will all be gone by the ten pick. Hughes must move up.
Michael Misa will likely go second overall after an offensive explosion in the Ontario Hockey League. The second best centre in this draft is Anton Frondell from Sweden. James Hagens has dropped to third among centres and he may not even be that. Hagens had a disappointing run at Boston College, but he has earned his standing with stellar play internationally.
The next centre is well known in Quebec. Caleb Desnoyers from Saint-Hyacinthe would absolutely ignite the fan base in Quebec. He’s been outstanding in Moncton this season with a very strong 200-foot game.
The final centre is Jake O’Brien who some scouts have moved into the top-five. O’ Brien has had a tremendous second half very much like Beckett Sennecke last season when he vaulted up the charts.
What’s interesting about this group of five is their 200-foot games. The worst player of the five in terms of ice management is actually Hagens. Overall, the group are intelligent at both ends of the ice.
All five of these players have such potential with Demidov it is exciting to contemplate it. Granted, this is a difficult trade to find a partner. However, 13 and 16 isn’t that far from 10, and if a team at around 10 has different roster needs, they may like to add volume to their draft day.
Hughes has put himself in a strong position. Let’s see if he can acquire that key player this off-season. Hughes has a lot of pieces he can dangle to acquire that one missing piece to launch this rebuild into the upper echelon of the league.
Brian Wilde, a Montreal-based sports writer, brings you Call of the Wilde on globalnews.ca after each Canadiens game.