While 77 points would barely have a team out of the basement in the Eastern Conference, for the Nashville Predators, it is currently enough for a wild card spot. Battling to hold on to their spot, they hosted the Montreal Canadiens on Saturday night, a team embroiled in their own heated battle, and theirs being in the most competitive division in hockey right now. The Habs outclassed their hosts for most of the game, opening up a 4-0 lead, and nearly earning a shutout for Jacob Fowler if not for a horrible bounce off a stanchion that allowed a 4-1 final score.

A big part of how they accomplished that convincing win was the young Ivan Demidov, who was all over Nashville.

Ivan Demidov hits the post on his first try, then dangles and sets up Alex Newhook to make it 4-0 #Habs pic.twitter.com/7v2WzkxFRY

— Matt Drake (@DrakeMT) March 29, 2026

From his very first shift, it felt like Demidov wanted to be a difference maker in this game. We’ve grown accustomed to his skillful dangles around players, which are present in nearly every game, but this was different. He seemed particularly hungry for the puck, and virtually impossible for the Predators to deal with on a shift-to-shift basis. At one point, a Predator tried to land a hit as he was entering the offensive zone, and found himself spinning to the ice for his efforts. Demidov cranked the compete-level dial to playoff mode, which we can only hope to be a preview of what he might do if he gets the chance to be there again.

He is problematic to cover even with little space, because his puck handling allows him to make things happen even when he’s well covered. Lately, he’s also been able to find opportunities to work with a lot more space, whether winning races defensively, or through excellent positioning in transition, like on his goal to open the scoring last night.

Neutral zone turnover gives Ivan Demidov time to work, and he rips one off the post and in.

1-0 #Habs pic.twitter.com/IEPYH0jWBf

— Matt Drake (@DrakeMT) March 28, 2026

It wasn’t just Demidov out there. The second line was firing on all cylinders, with Oliver Kapanen and Alex Newhook turning in very solid nights, and two-point efforts of their own. That line has seen its share of problematic games, but when they are able to move the puck confidently like they did against Nashville, they are a serious scoring threat. If Demidov can be more active as a play driver for that line, perhaps they can have more nights like that.

The Calder ship has likely already sailed to Long Island for Matthew Schaefer, but it does feel like Demidov has determined he’ll be finishing this season as strongly as he possibly can. Whether that muddies the waters at all for voters is not nearly as important as what his play can do for the Habs in their quest for the playoffs.

And again, what he might do if he’s carrying this kind of level into the playoffs could be amazing.

Click the play button below to listen to your full Bottom Six Minutes, also available wherever you get your podcasts. We’ll be right back tonight, when the Habs will be visiting the Carolina Hurricanes.