The Montreal Canadiens need to build on the momentum of their second-round win, and elevating Demidov to the top line might just help them do that.
The Montreal Canadiens are one of the four teams still playing hockey as the calendar inches closer to June. While that is quite a surprise for a team that nobody saw as a contender yet, it’s even more surprising when you factor in the fact that their top line has been neutralized throughout the first two rounds.
In 14 games, Nick Suzuki has a total of 13 points, but eight were scored on the power play, while both Juraj Slafkovsky and Cole Caufield have nine points, but only one at even strength for the captain’s wingers. What’s even more worrying is that the three first-line forwards are part of a select club of only five players on the Canadiens’ roster who have a negative differential alongside Noah Dobson and Joe Veleno. Not only are they not producing at even strength, but they are getting scored on.
Despite having four power-play goals in 14 games, Slafkovsky’s performance has been largely underwhelming. In fact, since the series against the Tampa Bay Lightning, the power forward has not really looked like himself. The punch he took from Brandon Hagel or the hit that obliterated him from Max Crozier might have something to do with it. It looks like he’s playing injured, and as the Canadiens get ready to take on the well-oiled scoring machine that is the Carolina Hurricanes, they need to find a way to get their top players going.
Throughout the second round, one player looked like he was slowly finding his footing in the playoffs: Ivan Demidov. The Russian rookie has seven points in 14 games, but he has looked increasingly threatening of late; five of his points came in the last five games. He might not have gotten an assist on Alex Newhook’s series-winning goal in overtime. Still, it was his forecheck and active stick that helped the Canadiens regain puck possession and allowed Alexandre Carrier to send Newhook on his way to score the most important goal of his career thus far.
The 20-year-old rookie is also quite the playmaker and having him on Caufield’s opposite wing might be a good way to get the sniper the puck in dangerous areas more often. That could allow Caufield to finally get going at even strength in these playoffs. Caufield, Suzuki, Slafkovsky, and Demidov all had five points in three games against the Canes this season, but based on recent performance and the fact that the top line has been ineffective in these playoffs, it could be time for St-Louis to give a boost to his top line.
The first game of this third-round series will be a pivotal one. The Canes have been off for 11 days, while the Habs are just coming off an intense series against the Buffalo Sabres in which they had to dig deep. In the long run, the rest could come in handy for the Canes, but early in the series, they might need to get rid of some rust, and Montreal needs to take advantage of that.
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