CHICAGO – Montreal Canadiens rookie Ivan Demidov played his first career game at United Center, a building he could have called home had the Chicago Blackhawks decided to draft him at No. 2 in 2024 instead of defenceman Artyom Levshunov, who was a healthy scratch for this home opener.

Whether that was part of the dynamic that quickly took hold in this game is unknown, but for whatever reason, the Blackhawks appeared to be targeting Demidov. At least, that’s what the Canadiens thought anyway.

And that’s kind of what mattered in a game that was hard to draw much meaning from — one where the Canadiens had a ridiculous 10 power plays and won 3-2 on a goal with 15 seconds left in regulation by Kaiden Guhle, who was a big part of the story surrounding Demidov.

He saw what the Blackhawks were doing with Demidov. He saw Blackhawks defenceman Wyatt Kaiser take a cross-checking penalty for throwing Demidov into his own net, a penalty Kaiser appeared to think came as a result of a dive based on how he reacted afterward, and a penalty that resulted in Cole Caufield scoring the game’s opening goal on the ensuing power play.

Guhle saw all of that, and took note of it.

So, when he saw Blackhawks centre Frank Nazar skating the puck through the neutral zone with his head down, Guhle pounced.

Les coups explosent à Chicago!!! Et Demidov doit se défendre. 😳🥊 pic.twitter.com/ugTfcthoP2

— TVA Sports (@TVASports) October 12, 2025

Did he realize that was Nazar skating through the neutral zone?

Guhle remained silent, which basically answered the question.

Did he know that when he hit a young, skilled player the way he did, he would be challenged to a fight?

“Yup,” he simply replied.

Was it a response to what the Blackhawks were doing with Demidov?

Guhle did not remain silent for that one.

“A little bit, yeah,” Guhle said. “I mean, if you go after one of our younger, skilled players, I’m going to do the same thing. I think they expect that. I don’t know, maybe they didn’t. But yeah, it had a little bit of something to do with that.”

Canadiens captain Nick Suzuki had the same read on the situation.

“He definitely had a target on his back tonight,” Suzuki said. “I think guys around the league know what kind of player he is. I mean, he’s had that his whole life, probably. In minor hockey or in junior, when you’re a top player, guys know that. And he’s obviously that. He definitely handled it really well. He wasn’t retaliating, just kind of took it on the chin and kept battling.

“It’s great to see that from a young player.”

Demidov was on the ice when Guhle hit Nazar, as was Kaiser and Tyler Bertuzzi. They both went after Demidov as Guhle was busy fighting Louis Crevier, who picked up an instigator penalty for going after Guhle — a power play the Canadiens also scored on.

Demidov didn’t cower under attack. He gave as good as he got in that scrum.

The Canadiens know a lot about what Demidov can do in an NHL environment, but this was an environment he had not faced before. The playoff series against the Washington Capitals last season was hostile, but this was a level of hostility directed at him that he had not yet seen.

And his reaction to it resonated with his teammates in a way that will have value far beyond this disjointed game.

“I think he sees what we do as a team and I don’t think he wants to be the guy standing on the outside of it,” Guhle said. “I don’t know, I haven’t talked to him about it. Maybe he likes that stuff. It seemed like he did.”

Did you learn something about your new teammate?

“Yeah,” he said, “I did.”

Goaltender Sam Montembeault seemed to learn something about Demidov as well.

“It was nice to see his grit,” he said. “As a skill player, you don’t always see that.”

Suzuki spent most of the summer skating with Demidov at the team’s practice facility and was therefore a little less surprised than Guhle might have been.

“Not anymore,” Suzuki said. “I probably wouldn’t have thought that when I didn’t really know him, but in the summer in practice, he’s competitive, not afraid to throw his weight around, win battles.

“He’s a super competitive guy by nature, and you see it out on the ice.”

Coach Martin St. Louis also felt he didn’t learn anything he didn’t already know about Demidov, which is a pretty big endorsement of what he’s shown his coach so far.

“I just know that he’s a tough kid,” St. Louis said. “He takes hits to make plays, he doesn’t play on the outside, he gets on the inside. I don’t think I learned something I didn’t know.

“He’s a tough kid.”

There will be other learning moments that involve Demidov this season, other challenges he will need to answer, and how he gets through them will further inform his teammates about who he is. And if he gets through those challenges as well as he did this one, Demidov will further ingratiate himself to his teammates, if that’s even possible.

Every player who’s asked about Demidov makes no effort to hide how impressive he has been, how committed he is to being the best player he can be, how high his work ethic is. He is leaving an impression with his teammates every day, and it has nothing to do with his skill, which is obvious.

It has to do with character-related evidence like we saw Saturday night. And it wasn’t limited to his response to being physically challenged and not getting intimidated, it also included an elite-level backcheck after a Patrik Laine turnover on the power play put the Canadiens in a bad spot.

THE BACKCHECK FROM DEMIDOV??? pic.twitter.com/jXJ1riZMky

— Nathan “Grav” Murdock (@NathanGraviteh) October 11, 2025

Wonder who might have inspired that?

“He’s obviously a really talented player, but the thing that’s impressed me the most is how good of a person he’s been,” Jake Evans said in Toronto prior to the season-opener against the Maple Leafs. “He’s always trying to learn, doesn’t care if you’re a lot less skilled than him, he’s always trying to learn from everyone. He’s been just a really great teammate.”

Prior to the game Saturday, Demidov was asked if he’s enjoying visiting all these new cities. He had never been to Chicago, or Detroit, or Toronto — all of this is new to him. Demidov responded he wasn’t experiencing anything different aside from playing in new buildings, because he basically doesn’t leave the hotel.

He is focused on playing hockey. Not a whole lot else.

Demidov was also asked Saturday morning how he’s learned to manage risk, which is a priority for St. Louis and something Lane Hutson struggled with early in his rookie season. When you are as skilled as Demidov or Hutson, taking risks comes with the territory. But Demidov hasn’t taken too many of them with the puck through three games, and St. Louis considers his game to be smart and measured.

So, how does Demidov go about managing risk?

“I don’t know, it’s just a feeling inside,” he said. “It’s hard to say what’s happening, it’s just inside.”

That, in a different way, was also what we saw from Demidov on Saturday in the face of physical challenges, in the face of seemingly intentional targeting, in an environment he was largely unfamiliar with.

We saw what’s inside him.