Ivan Demidov wowed the crowd in his first game of the season

Seeing him use the boards like this is a good thing. He set up the whole rink, and even if the shot wasn’t perfect, it’s still a nice sequence.

In recent weeks, we’ve often seen him go after sequences like that. I’d like to see him work on the weight of his shot.

2. In the first period of the game, the Russian found a way to get on the score sheet. He made a pass and then positioned himself well for the play to develop.

Well done.

3. After two periods, Demidov had just 7:11 of playing time. He was one of his coach’s least-used forwards – which is possible when you play on a bottom-6 – along the way.

He still finished with 14 minutes and two seconds of playing time, which means he’s almost doubled his playing time after 40 minutes. He’s gaining confidence, the youngster.

4. In terms of speed, Demidov was interesting. After all, you could feel his involvement over 200 feet and he wasn’t too slow getting from point A to point B either.

He covered 0.26 KM with the puck and was, on average, the fastest player on the ice.

5. The way he’s playing, you’d think his coach would allow him to spend more time on the ice as time goes on. We can also assume that he’ll get more playing time.

Will he be able to buy himself time on the top-6? To be seen.

Overtime

– Wow.

– News from CF Montreal.

– Jeremy Swayman nears a contract?

– When can we expect a recall?

– Kyle Bukauskas will now be alongside Elliotte Friedman for the 32 Thoughts Podcast.