Ivan Demidov admits Vasilevskiy challenge before Game 5

ivan demidov said Tuesday after practice that scoring against Andrei Vasilevskiy is hard, and he still does not know exactly what the Canadiens should change before Game 5 in Tampa Bay. Montreal enters Wednesday night tied 2-2 and facing a familiar problem: finishing chances against one of the league’s top goaltenders.

Demidov on Vasilevskiy

"They have a pretty good goalie, so it is pretty hard to score with him." Demidov said that after practice on Tuesday, and the line matched the numbers Montreal has faced in this series. "We should change something, but I don't so far exactly what," he added.

That is the friction point for the Canadiens. They have reached Game 5 with the series even, but their attack has not carried the same weight from shift to shift, and Demidov’s comments made that plain without dressing it up.

Montreal’s scoring numbers

Through the first four games, Montreal generated 50 scoring chances at 5v5 and posted a 44.03% Corsi For percentage against Tampa Bay. The Canadiens were also averaging over eight fewer scoring chances per game than their regular season average, and Game 4 was especially thin at just six scoring chances at 5v5.

They did find some success earlier. Montreal scored six goals in its final two regular season meetings with Vasilevskiy, and it put four goals on the board in Game 1 of this series.

Tampa Bay’s edge

Vasilevskiy has still given the Lightning the cleaner side of the matchup. He was the Vezina Trophy runner-up last season, led the league in wins this season, and had a save percentage above.900 only once through the first four games of the series.

That leaves Game 5 as a test of adjustment more than motivation. Montreal already knows it can score on him in stretches, but Demidov’s admission points to the bigger issue: the Canadiens have not yet found the change that turns those stretches into enough goals to swing the series.