Montreal Canadiens's prospect Ivan Demidov was in action Tuesday with SKA St. Petersburg. Roman Rotenberg's team had lost its last four games and was itching for a win as the end of the regular season approaches in the KHL.  Not that its participation in the playoffs is jeopardized, but limping into the Spring tournament is far from ideal. 

About The Jake Evans Deal
The Canadiens Have Got Cap Space To Weaponize
Any Way You Slice It, the Canadiens Didn’t Deserve This Win

Skating on the second line, the right winger spent just under 17 minutes on the ice, had three shots, one hit, and two blocked shots, playing an essential role in SKA's 3-2 overtime win over CSKA Moscow.

The youngster now has 49 points in 60 games, which makes him the 16th scorer in the league and the top scorer on his team. 34-year-old veteran Sergei Plotnikov is in second place with 43 points. Demidov has reached his total while averaging only 13:45 minutes on the ice, while Plotnikov is averaging just under 20 minutes. Third-place scorer Alexander Nikishin has 42 points but spends an average of 24:31 on the ice and is the team's top blueliner. 

It's also worth noting that he has a plus-17 rating on the season, compared to plus-10 for Plotnikov and minus-10 for fourth scorer Mikhail Grigorenko who averages just over 18 minutes of ice time. Seems Rotenberg believes it's too late for him to learn to "work for the team" as he mentioned about Demidov's benching last week.

SKA now only has six games left before the end of the regular season on March, 23. The playoffs will then start on March, 26 and could finish as late as May, 25. 

Canadiens stories, analysis, breaking news, and more! Tap the star to add us to your favorites on Google News, never to miss a story.  

Follow Karine on X @KarineHains Bluesky @karinehains.bsky.social and Threads @karinehains.

Bookmark The Hockey News Canadiens' page for all the news and happenings around the Canadiens.