Canadiens’ Ivan Demidov Finding His Game at the Right Time in 2026 Playoffs

Ivan Demidov came into the 2026 Stanley Cup Playoffs carrying enormous expectations. The 20-year-old winger had just wrapped up a breakout rookie season with 62 points (19 goals and 43 assists) and was widely viewed as one of the most dangerous young forwards in the Eastern Conference. What followed over the next several weeks was a complicated, often frustrating story. But as the Montreal Canadiens prepare for Game 7 against the Buffalo Sabres on Monday night, Demidov may finally be hitting his stride at exactly the right moment.

A Near-Invisible First Round

The first-round series against the Tampa Bay Lightning was supposed to be a statement series for Demidov. Instead, he managed just one assist across seven games, a jarring number for a player who had spent the regular season drawing comparisons to some of the game’s most creative offensive minds. For context, Nick Suzuki and Lane Hutson each finished the series with six points, while Juraj Slafkovsky contributed five. Demidov was largely a passenger.

What made the criticism sting more was the shots-on-goal data. He fired 19 shots over 11 playoff games through the second round, suggesting the opportunities were there; he just couldn’t convert. That discrepancy between volume and production was the core tension of his early playoff run. Head coach Martin St. Louis tried to reframe the conversation, emphasizing Demidov’s off-puck work and hockey sense, but the subtext was clear: the Canadiens needed more from him. It was the kind of adjustment that takes time for any young forward, even one as talented as Demidov.

The Breakthrough Moment in Game 5

After picking up three assists over the first four games against Buffalo, a quiet but encouraging uptick, Demidov finally broke through in Game 5 in Buffalo. It wasn’t for lack of trying: he had posted two points in five games against the Washington Capitals the previous spring, but this deeper run brought a different level of scrutiny. Through the first 11 games of the 2026 Playoffs, the 20-year-old was still searching for his first goal of this postseason. He had even resorted to switching the colour of tape on his stick in a bid to change his fortunes, going to black, then back to white.

Demidov scored on the power play in the third period, with the Canadiens going on to win 6-3 and take a 3-2 series lead. The goal itself came from the high slot, a sharp wrist shot to the glove side, and it visibly lifted the weight that had been building over weeks of frustration. Earlier in the game, his shot had also set up Jake Evans‘ go-ahead goal when the puck deflected off the goalie and was poked in by Evans, crashing the net. In one game, Demidov went from goose egg to two-point night.

“He’s a confident guy,” Slafkovsky said after the game. “He’s got some of the best skill I’ve ever seen.”

Back at It in Game 6

If Game 5 was the relief valve, Game 6 was the confirmation. Demidov scored a power-play goal in the first period of Game 6 at Bell Centre, giving Montreal a 2-1 lead in what would become one of the wildest games of the postseason. The Canadiens ultimately lost 8-3 as Buffalo scored seven unanswered goals to force a Game 7, but Demidov’s continued offensive presence, two goals in two games after going without for 11, is not a footnote. It is the trend line the Canadiens have been waiting for.

The Sabres’ stunning rally included goals from Rasmus Dahlin, Tage Thompson, and two from Jack Quinn on the power play, overwhelming a Montreal team that had no answer defensively once the wheels came off. But the takeaway for the Canadiens’ long-term playoff health is not the collapse. It is the fact that their most talented young forward is now consistently dangerous.

The Bigger Picture: Growing Pains Are Real

It would have been easy to panic about Demidov’s early-playoff struggles, and plenty of observers did. But the reality of postseason adjustments for young forwards is well-documented. The speed is different. The defensive structure is tighter. Teams game-plan specifically for known offensive threats, and a 20-year-old still learning to operate at that level will naturally have stretches where he disappears. That is not a character flaw; it is a calendar.

The more relevant data point is how quickly he responded. Demidov finished with 19 shots on goal over 11 playoff games through the second round, a number that tells you the reads were there, the instincts were there, the problem was execution under an elevated level of pressure. Goals in back-to-back games suggest that pressure is no longer as paralyzing as it was in April. It also speaks to the kind of mental fortitude the Canadiens have been building in him since he arrived in Montreal.

For a Canadiens team with genuine Stanley Cup ambitions, having Demidov emerge as a secondary power-play weapon alongside Suzuki and Caufield is not a luxury; it is a necessity, especially if they advance past the Sabres to face the Carolina Hurricanes in the Eastern Conference Final. Carolina swept both of its series and has been idle since May 9, meaning they will be rested, sharp, and waiting for whoever survives Game 7.

Game 7 and What Comes Next

“There’s no panic or anything. I think we’re all excited. Just more hockey for us,” said defenceman Lane Hutson after the Game 6 loss. “We like the challenge, and they brought their best, and we’ve got to answer the bell.”

That mentality will need to carry over to Monday night in Buffalo, and Demidov will be a central figure in whether it does. A player who looked like a question mark six games ago has, in the span of two games, answered most of the questions being asked of him. The deeper test sustaining that production when it matters most is still ahead. But the early signs of a genuine playoff breakthrough are real, and for a team built to contend for years, watching their most electric young forward grow under pressure is exactly the kind of development worth tracking closely.