Ivan Demidov is the Canadiens' man of the moment. © APA / MINAS PANAGIOTAKIS

Montreal's youngsters shake up the NHL

For the Montreal Canadiens, it's not just youth that's doing the research, but rather youth that's delivering. The young players on the team have played a crucial role in the long-established Canadian team's very satisfactory start to the season so far.

21 October 2025

From: sn

On Monday, the Canadiens celebrated a 4-2 victory over the Buffalo Sabres at their home stadium, the Bell Centre. It was their fifth win in seven games and their fourth in the last five. It also marked a successful revenge for the narrow 3-4 home loss to the New York Rangers last Saturday.

After just eight minutes, rookies Ivan Demidov and Oliver Kapanen combined to give Buffalo an early lead with a spectacular combination – Kapannen scored his fourth goal of the season, and Demidov added his fourth assist. With a total of nine rookie points, the Canadiens lead the league in this statistic. Demidov, in particular, impressed with seven points in nine NHL games. In addition to the youngsters, more experienced but still young players like Nick Suzuki (26) and Juraj Slafkovsky (21) also contributed to the 4-2 home victory in the final period.

With a total of ten points, the French Canadians are currently in second place in the Atlantic Division, level on points with the league leaders Detroit Red Wings and ahead of their arch-rivals Toronto Maple Leafs.

Montreal's western road trip begins Wednesday with a visit to the Calgary Flames. Further Canadian matches follow, against the Edmonton Oilers on Thursday and the Vancouver Canucks on Saturday. It remains to be seen whether Montreal's young talent can deliver again there.