The Montreal Canadiens’ playoff series against the Washington Capitals has presented familiar challenges, but a recent strategic shift by head coach Martin St-Louis has sparked a glimmer of hope, particularly for rookie forward Ivan Demidov and the team’s struggling second line.
The first two games of the series followed a similar pattern: close scores with neither team establishing significant dominance, the Canadiens controlling shots, and the Capitals holding an edge in high-danger scoring chances. While goaltending has been relatively even, the Canadiens clearly need to address their defensive structure beyond the strong pairing of Lane Hutson and Kaiden Guhle.
However, the long-standing issue with the Canadiens’ second line, a concern anticipated to be resolved in the offseason, has limited St-Louis’ options as the team navigates playoff hockey. Prior to Game 2, St-Louis made a notable adjustment, moving the highly touted newcomer Ivan Demidov down to the fourth line and promoting Joel Armia to play alongside Alex Newhook and Patrik Laine in the top six.
While Demidov had a promising NHL debut, the speed and intensity of playoff hockey proved challenging for the 19-year-old forward, who struggled to find open ice in Game 1. However, St-Louis, known for his rare in-game modifications, opted to shake things up in Game 2, creating an opportunity that could yield positive results for the second line, the Canadiens overall, and Demidov himself.
St-Louis deployed Jake Evans as the center between Newhook and Demidov, while benching Laine. This decision almost immediately paid dividends. In their limited four minutes together, the new line generated more offensive threats than the previous iterations of the second and fourth lines combined over the first two games.
The early statistics are encouraging. With Evans centering Demidov and Newhook, the line controlled 69 percent of the shots and 60 percent of the expected goals, a significant statistical turnaround. By inserting Evans, a player known for strong puck retrievals, St-Louis provided the support Demidov and Newhook needed to create space and capitalize on their speed. The absence of puck retrieval focus with Laine on the line had previously rendered them ineffective.
While the sample size is small, the Canadiens and St-Louis may have stumbled upon a temporary or longer-term solution that could make Friday’s crucial Game 3 at the Bell Centre both easier to coach and more exciting to watch. The performance of this new second line combination will be a key factor in the Canadiens’ hopes of gaining ground in the series.