Nazar & Young Blackhawks Beat Canadiens, Spoil Demidov’s Debut

The young Chicago Blackhawks core earned one hell of a victory against the Montreal Canadiens on a night when the stars were aligned against them. The Bell Centre was rocking as a trip to the Stanley Cup Playoffs was on the line with an exciting young player making his debut. The Blackhawks rebounded from an early 2-0 deficit to win 4-3 in a shootout.

“That’s probably the most momentous game we’ve had — like, a game that mattered,” captain Nick Foligno said after the win. “It was nice not to see our guys get overwhelmed by the moment.”

After today’s morning skate, Blackhawks interim head Anders Sorensen said matching the energy in the building would be crucial at the start. That didn’t happen as Ivan Demidov made an immediate impact by helping the Canadiens take an early 2-0 lead.

On his second NHL shift, Demidov found Alex Newhook, who got in below all three forwards and tapped home the night’s first goal. A few minutes later, Demidov took advantage of a defensive miscue when Sam Rinzel stepped up at the blue line and collided with Landon Slaggert. Arvid Soderblom hesitated for a split second on whether to play the puck off the end boards, and that was all that the young forward needed to score with a slick backhand shot.

The Blackhawks got one of those goals back with a power-play goal late in the period. Frank Nazar made a nice cross-ice pass to Tyler Bertuzzi, who potted his 10^th goal on the man advantage this season.

The game shifted in the second period, as the Blackhawks became the aggressors. After the Canadiens had a 24-17 5v5 shot attempt advantage in the opening frame, the visitors held a 16-7 lead in that category during the middle stanza.

Nazar tied the game late in the period with the Blackhawks’ second power-play goal of the night. He won the faceoff, then drifted to a soft spot just inside the left circle, where he blasted home a one-timer off a feed from Teuvo Teravainen.

Lukas Reichel and the fourth line redeemed themselves by giving the Blackhawks a 3-2 lead early in the third period. Slaggert made a lovely saucer pass to lead Reichel ahead of the defense and beat Sam Montembeault one-on-one. Juraj Slafkovsky tied the game with a late power-play goal after Connor Murphy was assessed a relatively weak holding penalty.

After a scoreless overtime, Nazar scored the only shootout goal to give the Blackhawks the extra point. The Columbus Blue Jackets still have a chance to grab that last Eastern Conference Wild Card if they win their last two games and Montreal loses their season finale.

Frank Nazar is a Star

Maybe the main storyline tonight shouldn’t have been the Blackhawks passing up on Demidov, but rather, the Canadiens shouldn’t have traded the pick that was used to draft Nazar! I don’t think many people predicted Nazar to be this good this fast. He’s getting better with every shift. His hockey IQ is just as impressive as his speed, and he’s figuring out how to combine the two together. He’s dangerous every time he steps on the ice.

The second period was the best 20 minutes of Nazar’s young career. He was a beast on the forecheck, terrorizing Lane Hutson more than once. He set up multiple scoring chances and could easily have had multiple points in the frame.

Before he scored the lone shootout goal, Nazar made a nice defensive play in overtime that prevented Demidov from getting a breakaway. He has four goals and seven points in his last six games. He finished his night with a goal, two points, two shots on goal, four shot attempts, a hit, and two blocked shots. Possibly the most impressive stat was that the Canadiens did not have a high-danger scoring chance at 5v5 with Nazar on the ice.

“If that’s what playoff hockey is going to sound like, I’m really excited for that in the future,” Nazar said with a smile.

There has been a lot of talk about how general manager Kyle Davidson has to find an elite forward to play with Connor Bedard. And while he does need a top-line forward this summer, that running mate may have been here the whole time. Perhaps he was drafted a year ahead of Bedard. Maybe it’s Frank Nazar.

Ryan Greene Thrown Right Into the Mix

It’s been a crazy 48 hours for Ryan Greene. On Saturday, the 2022 second-round pick played with Boston University in the NCAA National Championship game. He woke up Sunday morning and signed his entry-level contract with the Blackhawks. On Monday, he took the opening faceoff at the Bell Centre, the building he was drafted in.

“I’m really excited to get the opportunity to play in the lineup, and I’m going to try to make the best of it,” Greene said this morning. “I’ve been able to round out my game the last three years at BU. I see myself as a 200-foot player who is responsible and can be relied on in a lot of situations. That’s something I’m trying to bring here.”

Greene played 12:55 in his NHL debut and even got some time on the penalty kill and in overtime. He had three shot attempts and three blocked shots while winning three of his nine faceoffs. His line with Foligno and Oliver Moore spent more time playing defense and offense, but that could be expected with two inexperienced players.

Odds & Ends

• It was fun that Demidov debuted against the Blackhawks and Artyom Levshunov. Fans will debate that pick for years to come, but the fact that both these players are in the NHL less than a year after the draft shows how special they are. While Demidov made the highlight reels, Levshunov had a good game. He was a plus-1 while dishing out four hits and blocking three hits. His best sequence came the shift after Montreal’s first goal when he broke up a play and started a 4v1 rush the other way.

• It was nice to see the fourth line of Joe Veleno, Slaggert, and Reichel redeem themselves on the third goal. They were on the ice for the first two goals against, and I hated how they defended on the opening tally. After a rough start, they had a solid game with a team-high 68.7 Corsi for percentage (CF%) at 5v5. They had a 7-2 advantage in scoring changes and led 5-2 in high-danger scoring chances.