Canadiens lose to Blackhawks in shootout, fail to clinch playoff berth

MONTREAL -- Ivan Demidov had a goal and an assist in his NHL debut, but the Montreal Canadiens failed to clinch their first Stanley Cup Playoff berth since 2021 with a 4-3 shootout loss to the Chicago Blackhawks at Bell Centre on Monday.

Demidov, who was selected with the No. 5 pick in the 2024 NHL Draft, signed his three-year, entry-level contract on April 8 after completing his season with SKA St. Petersburg of the Kontinental Hockey League.

“It’s crazy,” Demidov said. “I feel that the fans love me and it’s cool. Yeah, it’s amazing.”

Juraj Slafkovsky tied it late in the third period for Montreal (39-31-11), which has lost three in a row (0-1-2). Sam Montembeault made 22 saves.

“They come in, they want to not let us clinch our spot and they bring their best game,” Canadiens captain Nick Suzuki said. “And I thought we played decent overall. We could have won the game, but now we move on.”

The Canadiens lead the Columbus Blue Jackets, who have a game in hand, by four points for the second wild card into the Stanley Cup Playoffs from the Eastern Conference. Montreal will play its regular-season finale against the Carolina Hurricanes on Wednesday.

“At the end of the day, it’s still a big point and we’re going to keep going,” Canadiens coach Martin St. Louis said.

Frank Nazar had a goal and an assist in regulation before scoring the only goal of the shootout for Chicago (24-46-11), which is 3-1-1 in its past five games. Arvid Soderblom made 18 saves.

“They needed to win this game to secure a playoff spot, so you know that they’re going to come out hard,” Nazar said. “We knew that, so we just prepared and had a routine going into the game, a plan.”

Alex Newhook put Montreal up 1-0 at 6:00 of the first period. Demidov skated down the left boards, got around Blackhawks defenseman Connor Murphy along the goal line and sent a pass out front to Newhook, who scored on a one-timer from the low slot.

Demidov then made it 2-0 at 13:32. Canadiens defenseman Mike Matheson’s stretch pass was tipped down the ice by Joel Armia, but Demidov chased down the loose puck off the end boards and faked a slap shot at the left post before pulling it to his backhand for a tap-in past Soderblom's left pad.

Demidov (19 years, 125 days) is the second-youngest player, and third teenager, in Canadiens history to score in his NHL debut.

“It was an elite execution, a little deception to the backhand,” St. Louis said. “It was really nice.”

Tyler Bertuzzi got Chicago to within 2-1 at 18:40 of the first. He scored a power-play goal with a wrist shot past Montembeault's blocker from the left circle off a cross-ice pass from Nazar.

Nazar tied it 2-2 at 16:41 of the second period with his own power-play goal, a one-timer again past Montembeault’s blocker from the top of the left circle.

Lukas Reichel gave Chicago a 3-2 lead at 5:39 of the third period. He got behind the defense, took a lead pass from Landon Slaggert, and scored with a shot that trickled under Montembeault on a breakaway.

Slafkovsky tied it 3-3 at 17:03 with a power-play goal. Cole Caufield's one-timer from the bottom of the right circle hit Slafkovsky's skate and the right post before deflecting in off the back of Soderblom's skate.

“I’m proud of our guys,” Blackhawks captain Nick Foligno said. “That to me shows growth in our group, right? To get them to score one late and come back and find a way to get the win in the shootout, it’s exciting for our group.”

NOTES: Lane Hutson got his 65th point (six goals, 59 assists) of the season with an assist on Slafkovsky's goal, breaking a tie with Chris Chelios for the most by a rookie defenseman in Canadiens history. His 65 points are also tied with Ray Bourque for fifth in NHL history among rookie defensemen. ... Demidov is the eighth teenager in history to get multiple points in the first period of his NHL debut.