Spoiler Alert: Blackhawks 4, Canadiens 3 (SO)
The Blackhawks rallied from an early deficit in Canada on Monday night, ultimately earning a 4-3 shootout win over Montreal to prevent the Canadiens from clinching a spot in the 2025 Stanley Cup Playoffs for at least one more night.
The Habs got on the board six minutes into the first period thanks to an impressive play by Ivan Demidov. He skated the puck down low around Connor Murphy before getting the puck to Alex Newhook in the slot, who snapped it past Arvid Soderblom to make it 1-0.
Montreal goal!Scored by Alex Newhook with 14:00 remaining in the 1st period.Assisted by Ivan Demidov and Joel Armia.Montreal: 1Chicago: 0#CHIvsMTL #GoHabsGo #Blackhawks pic.twitter.com/Jlma3byqIg— NHL Goals (@nhl_goal_bot) April 14, 2025
The Demidov show continued as he extended the Habs lead to 2-0 at 13:32 of the first. Mike Matheson’s stretch pass hit the end boards and Demidov raced to get the loose puck, faked a shot at the left post, then pulled off an impressive backhand move for a tap-in goal on the opposite side.
Montreal goal!Scored by Ivan Demidov with 06:28 remaining in the 1st period.Assisted by Mike Matheson.Montreal: 2Chicago: 0#CHIvsMTL #GoHabsGo #Blackhawks pic.twitter.com/szPmoRQyTr— NHL Goals (@nhl_goal_bot) April 14, 2025
A power-play goal from Tyler Bertuzzi cut the deficit for the Blackhawks to 2-1 with 1:20 left in the opening frame. Credit to Connor Bedard for his slowed-down entry that drew everyone to him, leaving Frank Nazar open for a cross-ice pass to an equally open Bertuzzi.
Power play goal for Chicago!Scored by Tyler Bertuzzi with 01:20 remaining in the 1st period.Assisted by Frank Nazar and Connor Bedard.Montreal: 2Chicago: 1#CHIvsMTL #GoHabsGo #Blackhawks pic.twitter.com/OCBF2skaJC— NHL Goals (@nhl_goal_bot) April 14, 2025
Nazar decided to score his own power-play goal later on, tying the game 2-2 with 3:19 remaining in the second period. Nazar won the faceoff and then slid over to the right circle, where he was teed up for a one-timer by Teuvo Terevainen.
Power play goal for Chicago!Scored by Frank Nazar with 03:19 remaining in the 2nd period.Assisted by Teuvo Teravainen and Sam Rinzel.Montreal: 2Chicago: 2#CHIvsMTL #GoHabsGo #Blackhawks pic.twitter.com/BzJhnd8YrW— NHL Goals (@nhl_goal_bot) April 15, 2025
The Blackhawks took the lead for the first time in the game just under six minutes into the third period. Lukas Reichel used his speed to get behind the defense, took a leading saucer pass from Landon Slaggert, and beat Samuel Montembeault on a mini-breakaway.
Chicago goal!Scored by Lukas Reichel with 14:21 remaining in the 3rd period.Assisted by Landon Slaggert and Joe Veleno.Montreal: 2Chicago: 3#CHIvsMTL #GoHabsGo #Blackhawks pic.twitter.com/mtMZ9NFNRj— NHL Goals (@nhl_goal_bot) April 15, 2025
The Habs re-tied the game 3-3 with 2:57 remaining in the third period. While on the power play, Lane Hutson walked the puck into the slot before sliding it to Cole Caufield in the right circle, and the latter’s one-timer hit Juraj Slafkovsky’s skate, the right post, and then Soderblom before going in the net.
Power play goal for Montreal!Scored by Juraj Slafkovský with 02:57 remaining in the 3rd period.Assisted by Cole Caufield and Lane Hutson.Montreal: 3Chicago: 3#CHIvsMTL #GoHabsGo #Blackhawks pic.twitter.com/f2Laxli5gm— NHL Goals (@nhl_goal_bot) April 15, 2025
After no goals were scored during 3-on-3 overtime, the Blackhawks headed to the shootout for the second game in a row. This time, the outcome was better: Soderblom was perfect and Nazar scored to secure a 4-3 win for the Blackhawks.
Here is Nazar’s shootout winner:
And for my next trick, I will make this puck 🪄disappear 🪄 pic.twitter.com/6dfDWLs1g5— Blackhawks on CHSN (@CHSN_Blackhawks) April 15, 2025
And Soderblom closing the game out:
Arvid Söderblom makes the save on Nick Suzuki in the shootout, and the Canadiens won't clinch a playoff spot tonight ❌ pic.twitter.com/4Sz4qOJU7H— Sportsnet (@Sportsnet) April 15, 2025
Notes
The Blackhawks have been plagued by slow starts basically all season and they were absolutely disjointed and sloppy in the first 20 minutes. But it’s still admirable that they never allowed the Canadiens to really settle in comfortably or have very sustained periods of pressure. The Habs ended up with the better of shot attempts (24-17) because they absolutely had the puck more, but the Blackhawks kept shots on goal (6-6) and high danger chances (5-5) even with the Habs having only a slight edge in overall scoring chances (10-8). It took two really nice goals for the Habs to even capitalize on those chances and the Blackhawks did have a couple of their own. The power play getting back on track made it so the game was still close going into the second.
And what a second it was: the Blackhawks had a hard push in the opening eight minutes, held on to their momentum through special teams time, and didn’t let up through the rest of the period. Blackhawks not only had a 16-7 edge in shot attempts, they got the better of the quality chances too, owning 57.14 percent of the expected goals. The Habs still had some big opportunities when Soderblom had to be steady, but nothing felt quite as dangerous as the first-period shots.
The Blackhawks didn’t stop there, they continued that momentum into the third period, picked up a goal and just kept going. You could tell the Blackhawks were really feeling themselves at this point, so much so that scoring chances were 11-3 and high danger chances were 6-1 in favor of Chicago, and the Habs really didn’t have an answer until the (arguably gifted) power play. The 85.71 percent share of expected goals for the Blackhawks this period is one of the highest shares in a single period this season. Again, if not for the power-play goal against, the Blackhawks likely could have closed the game down at 5-on-5.
Overtime was a lot of back-and-forth without a lot of meaningful shots, though the Blackhawks had the better of those as well: 2-1 in shot attempts, 2-1 in shots on goal, and 2-0 in scoring chances. It felt like the Blackhawks could have won in overtime but held onto the puck a little too much instead of attacking. The fact that Soderblom got his first win in a shootout after how bad he was in them last season and Nazar getting to be the goal hero — albeit, unknown for a moment — was pretty sweet, honestly.
Like Spencer Knight’s last game, Soderblom’s save percentage (.857) doesn’t accurately reflect how good he was in this game. Here is one of Soderblom’s other saves in the shootout:
Huge Arvid stop pic.twitter.com/dPE1fMsSQg— BHF (@BlackhawksFocus) April 15, 2025
Ultimately, this game didn’t mean much to the Blackhawks in terms of this season — they’re locked into 31st place either way — so really the main thing they were playing for was pride. The Habs are fighting desperately to make the playoffs, so the atmosphere at Centre Bell was electric from the jump, and the Blackhawks seemed to feed off that in a way they haven’t had much opportunity to do this season. It gives hope that when this very young roster matures, they could carry this confidence into other big moments and rise to the occasion in the future.
Frank Nazar: "If that's what playoff hockey is going to sound like, I'm really excited for that in the future."— Scott Powers (@ByScottPowers) April 15, 2025
Nick Foligno: "That’s probably the most momentous game that we’ve had — like, a game that mattered. It was nice to…not see our guys get overwhelmed by the moment."— Ben Pope (@BenPopeCST) April 15, 2025
This game was kind of seen as a Demidov vs. Levshunov matchup, but it’s really not fair to compare the two at this point since forwards naturally develop quicker than defensemen. Neither is a fully realized player at this point and both had mixed-bag games, anyway. Demidov scored his first goal, but he is also partially responsible for the Reichel goal. Levshunov didn’t have too many flashy moments outside of one great pass in the first, but he also was pretty solid overall.
4on1 rush orchestrated by Levshunov… Mikheyev couldn't get a good deflection off pic.twitter.com/u1rItaFVDf— BHF (@BlackhawksFocus) April 14, 2025
Silky mitts x2 pic.twitter.com/okCK8AJWiV— BHF (@BlackhawksFocus) April 14, 2025
On top of that, arguably the best young player on the ice tonight wasn’t either of the 2024 draftees: it was Nazar. Sorensen agreed post-game:
Anders Sorensen on Frank Nazar: "I thought he was dynamite. I thought he was the best player on the ice on both teams."— Ben Pope (@BenPopeCST) April 15, 2025
Nazar finished with four shot attempts, two on goal, two scoring chances, a goal and an assist in 19:49. His high-end playmaking was on display all night — five of Bertuzzi’s seven shot attempts were set up by Nazar, for example — as was his aggressive puck-hound abilities, especially on the penalty kill. Nazar has been the Blackhawks best player for more than a handful of games — he picked up his eighth point (4 G, 4 A) in seven games — and puts him at almost a 0.5 point-per-game pace on the season. That’s solid work for a 21-year old who missed a full season of development to injury and made the jump to the NHL with just 21 AHL games under his belt.
Here's the second period highlight package for Frank Nazar. He legit could have had 4 points. #Blackhawks pic.twitter.com/DBAtV7Y4lN— Charlie Roumeliotis (@CRoumeliotis) April 15, 2025
It’s also pretty crazy that he scored but no one on the ice or bench saw it except Nazar. Like, where did they think the puck went? The puck made the water bottle move, ffs.
Frank Nazar’s shootout attempt was originally ruled a miss, despite the puck going into the net. The play was then reviewed, and ruled a goal, after Montreal’s first attempt.Nazar’s goal stood as the eventual winner… one of the most confusing shootouts ever 😭😅 pic.twitter.com/46vLTjv5pc— Gino Hard (@GinoHard_) April 15, 2025
None of Frank Nazar's teammates believed he actually scored in the shootout until the review 😂😅 pic.twitter.com/lIQTZ8zgbO— B/R Open Ice (@BR_OpenIce) April 15, 2025
There are some who believe that the shootout goal shouldn’t have counted according to Rule 78.5 (Disallowed Goals) and Rule 37 (Video Review) in the NHL Rulebook: “once a shootout attempt is ruled “no goal” and the next shooter takes their attempt, the play is considered dead, and the original ruling cannot be overturned. The officials’ decision on the ice stands.” However, apparently the goal was reviewed and deemed a good goal before Laine started his attempt, the on-ice officials just weren’t told quick enough before Laine went to shoot.
I’m in the NHL’s Toronto Situation Room tonight…getting a look at the process before the playoffs. CHI/MON shootout: The person here watching the game notified the penalty box before Laine’s attempt that Nazar scored. Laine went before on-ice officials could be told. That’s…— Elliotte Friedman (@FriedgeHNIC) April 15, 2025
That puck being lost in the net of the #GoHabsGo was reminiscent of another puck that still has not been found. 🤔Fitting that it was the #blackhawks again— Chris Pronger (@chrispronger) April 15, 2025
The youngest line on the team — Reichel, Slaggert, and Joe Veleno — had an interesting night: they were on the ice for the first two goals against but got one back and more than held their own in the latter 40 minutes. The Blackahwks finished with 68.75 percent of the shot attempts, 62.50 percent of the shots on goal, and 73.37 percent of the expected goals when that fourth-line trio was on the ice. Those first two numbers were the best for any Blackhawks line and only Nazar’s line with Teravainen and Bertuzzi had a larger expected goals share (83.61 percent). Reichel, Slaggert, and Veleno were also the only Blackhawks players to pick up 5-on-5 points in this game.
I really like Slaggert and Reichel together. It’d be interesting to see what they could do when given more time and offensive opportunity.
Connor Bedard had some really strong individual moments, but weirdly he had no shots on goal even though he had six attempts (third most on the team). Still, Ryan Donato and Ilya Mikheyev both benefitted from Bedard’s passing with six scoring chances being generated by them after a Bedard setup.
People are probably tired of this, but Rinzel had another excellent game. Not perfect by any means, but it’s hard to find too many faults to be upset about. He really leaned into the offense this game, generating nine shot attempts (the most of any player on the ice), four on goal, and five scoring chances. One of the best things about Rinzel’s shots is that they often lead to secondary chances within a few seconds — if not outright rebounds, a quick pick-up and new shot.
Great moves and chances for both Rinzel and Veleno on this shift pic.twitter.com/CDMf45xQ1y— BHF (@BlackhawksFocus) April 14, 2025
If Rinzel ends up being NHL-ready — and he’s absolutely looked it in this small sample size — then the Blackhawks have even more wiggle room to be patient with Levshunov and Korchinski, if that’s needed. Rinzel and Alex Vlasic could be a competent — albeit young — two-way top-pairing next season. Connor Murphy has looked really decent still this season, and they have four other young defensemen — Wyatt Kaiser, Ethan Del Mastro, Nolan Allan, and Louis Crevier — who have all shown competency in the NHL this season for varying periods of time. Now, one or more of these kids could also be used in a trade this summer or next season, but that’s the beauty of stockpiling and developing so many defensemen: the Blackhawks can deal from an area of strength.
Last but not least, Ryan Greene made his NHL debut tonight: he was relatively quiet in 12:55 of ice time with three shot attempts, one scoring chance, and none on goal but he had some nice defensive moments. His line with Nick Foligno and Oliver Moore was the worst of the Blackhawks, but not sure that had much to do with Greene in particular.
Game Charts
Three Stars
Frank Nazar (CHI) — 1 goal, 1 assist, shootout winner
Ivan Demidov (MTL) — 1 goal, 1 assist
Arvid Soderblom (CHI) — first shootout win
What’s Next
The Blackhawks wrap up the season in Ottawa against the Senators on Tuesday night at 6 p.m.
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