The Montreal Canadiens had two targets to hit at the end of the season, and both of them, no one could have seen coming at the beginning of the season.
The Canadiens were in last place in November, but with a win over Ottawa, not only could the Canadiens have wrapped up a playoff spot, they could have seriously considered unseating the Senators for the first wild card spot.
Montreal seemed to be eyeing the second spot with the effort in Ottawa Friday. But they were always second-best against the Senators — the playoffs will have to wait for another day after a 5-2 loss.
Wilde Horses
There’s little to celebrate, but the Nick Suzuki march to 90 points continued with point 87. Juraj Slafkovsky won the puck in the corner, then delivered a strong pass to Suzuki. It’s the 35th point in 23 games for Suzuki since the Four Nations break. Simply outstanding offensive numbers.
Suzuki has the most points for a Canadiens player this century. The captain eclipsed the 84-point mark of Alexei Kovalev from 2008. It’s been some dark times for offence in Montreal for a long time. Suzuki finally put up some better numbers after a 17-year drought for the team.
Suzuki has a point in seven straight games. Not only is he trying to hit 90 points, he is also trying to notch 30 goals. He has 29. The last Canadiens player to get at least 90 points was Pierre Turgeon with 96 in 1996. Vincent Damphousse had 94 that same year.
Wilde Goats
The poor starts continued for the Canadiens. Only 28 seconds in, the Senators counted before the Canadiens even touched the puck in the game. Head Coach Martin St. Louis had the right people on. He had his number one centre, accompanied by his usual linemates.
He had his best defending pair on in Lane Hutson and Kaiden Guhle. However, every single one of them either lost a puck battle or lost their man in allowing Shane Pinto to score from three feet in front of the net. It’s bizarre how bad the Canadiens have been in the first period, yet they entered the night on a six-game winning streak.
Playing a bad opening 20 had to catch up with the club eventually, and this was that ‘eventually’. The Senators rolled all over Montreal. Less than four minutes later, it’s the Suzuki line on again with the Savard-Struble pairing, and another goal was allowed. Dylan Cozens scored on a rebound. It was ugly, and it was ugly fast.
The power play is also struggling. It’s the 23rd in the league since the Four Nations break. That power play could use an injection of a talented playmaker like Ivan Demidov as soon as he gets comfortable. Demidov should replace Juraj Slafkovsky, who is the reason the puck is lost on that power play most of the time. Slafkovsky struggles to handle pursuit-pressure on him. If it comes quickly, it impacts his decision making.
Demidov, on the power play, will have a footprint that is very much like Suzuki’s. He will have strong vision, good playmaking, strong shot, and an ability to hold on to the puck much better than the man that he should replace. There’s a lot of talent on that power play. It should not be bottom third in the league.
The loss all but rules out the first wild card hope for Montreal as Ottawa is now almost free and home for that honour. However, the Canadiens have to get back to work on Saturday now in Toronto, as they don’t want to leave this too long, creating more drama than is wanted.
After six straight wins, and a lot of emotional energy spent, it was not surprising that they didn’t match the Senators intensity in this one. They have to make sure they get it back one more time, though, before this season concludes.
They can also hope for help. Three clubs still alive can all be eliminated before the Canadiens drop the puck against the Maple Leafs. The Islanders are in Philadelphia. The Blue Jackets are hosting Washington. The Rangers are in Carolina. All three clubs can’t afford a loss Saturday afternoon, or they are out.
The Red Wings won in Tampa Bay in a shootout. They remain alive.
Wilde Cards
At 7:30 p.m. Thursday, on an otherwise quiet night in April, the Sick Podcast began livestreaming a shot of double doors at Pearson Airport in Toronto. In the next hour, Ivan Demidov was expected to walk through arrivals.
That’s it. Nothing more. Demidov wasn’t going to start skating, or shoot some pucks on a makeshift net at the airport. All he was going to do was walk through a door and then keep on walking.
As streaming video events go, it’s difficult to imagine anything duller than this. So why did it become a viral event?
There were 480,000 views of that door by the time the night was over. Demidov-mania in Montreal has begun. This is how starved for a superstar Canadiens hockey fans are.
Demidov didn’t speak to the media who staked out the airport along with the fans. Demidov had a long day flying from Istanbul, Turkey. It was straight to the hotel room in Toronto for him with a police escort.
Toronto is where Demidov will join the club Saturday morning and step on the ice as a Canadiens player for the first time. Demidov won’t play on Saturday against the Maple Leafs as he gets acclimated to Canada making an attempt to lose his jet-lag after a thrilling week.
Demidov has chosen jersey number 93. This is appropriate as this is the last year that the Canadiens won the cup. He is the best hope that they have had since then that they can win another cup. It’s been 32 years for Montreal, and, in fact, all of Canada.
No pressure, kid.
However, great players welcome pressure. They know they have the talent to rise to it. Make no mistake, Demidov is that great player. Scouts all over claim that he should be compared to Nikita Kucherov.
Demidov broke the KHL record in 2024-25 for points in a season for a draft-plus-one player. He surpassed Matvei Michkov. An expectation that he will have a rookie season like Michkov in Philadelphia is a fair one. It is expected Demidov will be in the Calder Trophy conversation as best rookie next season.
All is looking extremely positive for the Canadiens who finish year three of the rebuild already expected to be a playoff team in the next four days. Adding Demidov and a second-line centre should only add to the anticipation that franchise greatness is just around the corner.
It is a fun time to be a Canadiens fan. We just didn’t know it was so fun that 500,000 fans would watch a future start walk through a door.
Brian Wilde, a Montreal-based sports writer, brings you Call of the Wilde on globalnews.ca after each Canadiens game.
Call of the Wilde: Demidov fever hits Montreal
