Game 81: Montreal Canadiens vs. Chicago Blackhawks
Start time: 7:00 PM EDT / 4:00 PM PDT
In the Canadiens region: RDS (French)
In the Blackhawks region: CHSN
Streaming: Prime Video (Canada), ESPN+ (USA)
After a few month of hoping the Montreal Canadiens would be able to select Ivan Demidov followed by nearly a full season of waiting to see him play for the Habs after he did get drafted, he is now set to play his first game in the NHL. He will wear #93 to the right of Alex Newhook tonight, taking one of the players who has been getting some of the best scoring chances for Montreal in recent games and adding a highly creative option on his flank.
The Chicago Blackhawks were one of the teams that chose another player with the chance to select Demidov last summer. The player they selected at second overall, Artyom Levshunov, is also in the contest tonight playing his 17th NHL game following a recall several weeks earlier. The Blackhawks are a lot closer to the start of their rebuild then they thought they were this off-season, and now they’ve decided to give Levshunov and several other young players their chance.
The gap in inexperience even with a 19-year-old making his Habs debut should be apparent in this game as the Canadiens look to claim two points and seal a spot in the post-season. Demidov is coming off a great season and strong playoff performance in the KHL, and he should help Montreal keep the pressure on a Blackhawks team that averages more than three-and-a-half goals against per game.
Montreal Canadiens projected lineup
| Left Wing |
Centre |
Right Wing |
| #13 Cole Caufield |
#14 Nick Suzuki |
#20 Juraj Slafkovský |
| #17 Josh Anderson |
#28 Christian Dvorak |
#11 Brendan Gallagher |
| #40 Joel Armia |
#15 Alex Newhook |
#93 Ivan Demidov |
| #92 Patrik Laine |
#71 Jake Evans |
#91 Oliver Kapanen |
| Left Defence |
Right Defence |
| #21 Kaiden Guhle |
#48 Lane Hutson |
| #8 Mike Matheson |
#45 Alexandre Carrier |
| #47 Jayden Struble |
#58 David Savard |
| Starter |
Backup |
| #35 Samuel Montembeault |
#75 Jakub Dobeṧ |
Scratched: Michael Pezzetta. Joshua Roy, Arber Xhekaj
Injured: Kirby Dach, Emil Heineman
Chicago Blackhawks projected lineup
| Left Wing |
Centre |
Right Wing |
| Ryan Donato |
Connor Bedard |
Ilya Mikheyev |
| Teuvo Teravainen |
Frank Nazar |
Tyler Bertuzzi |
| Nick Foligno |
Ryan Greene |
Oliver Moore |
| Landon Slaggert |
Joe Veleno |
Lukas Reichel |
| Left Defence |
Right Defence |
| Alex Vlasic |
Sam Rinzel |
| Connor Murphy |
Louis Crevier |
| Wyatt Kaiser |
Artyom Levshunov |
| Starter |
Backup |
| Spencer Knight |
Arvid Soderblom |
