Bloody aftermath in Buffalo after massive hit on Ivan Demidov
Ivan Demidov gave Martin St-Louis a real scare Friday when a crushing second-period hit sent the Canadiens rookie reeling to the bench.
What started as a hard playoff push between the Montreal Canadiens and Buffalo Sabres turned into a sequence nobody on either bench could ignore.
Game 2 suddenly had a different edge.
Jordan Greenway caught Demidov with his head down and drove through the hit cleanly enough to leave the rookie flying backward.
It was the kind of collision that freezes a bench for a second.
The play got uglier a split second later.
As bodies tangled, Demidov's skates came down on Beck Malenstyn's exposed arm and hand after the Buffalo forward lost his glove on contact.
Demidov stayed up, but only barely.
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He made his way back to the Montreal bench, then headed off briefly as the Canadiens tried to settle things down.
Malenstyn had the worse visual aftermath.
He stayed on the ice in obvious discomfort, then noticed blood pouring from his hand and rushed off for repairs as trainers stepped in.
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Demidov's response changes the tone against Sabres
That's the part Montreal will care about most.
Demidov returned to the game, and that matters because the moment could have turned into a much bigger problem for St-Louis' bench.
For a young player in a series like this, the next shift tells you plenty.
Coming back after a hit like that says Demidov didn't let Buffalo push him out of the night.
It also sharpens the real issue for Montreal.
The Canadiens can live with playoff traffic, but they can't afford careless puck touches through the middle when Buffalo is closing gaps that hard.
The Sabres clearly wanted more weight in the game with Buffalo trailing in the second period, and they got it.
The physical push changed the feel of the night in a hurry.
That leaves St-Louis with a balancing act going into the next stretch of the series.
He wants Demidov attacking with confidence, but he also needs him recognizing when the window is gone and the danger is coming.
Friday's sequence wasn't just a scary visual.
It was a reminder that every touch is tighter now, every lane closes faster, and Demidov is already getting the kind of attention that changes a series.
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YESTERDAY
MAY 8, 2026
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| G | A | PTS | ||
| Mitch Marner | 3 | 1 | 4 | |
| Alex Newhook | 2 | - | 2 | |
| Brett Howden | 1 | 1 | 2 | |
| Shea Theodore | 1 | 1 | 2 | |
| Zach Benson | 1 | - | 1 | |
| Alexandre Carrier | 1 | - | 1 | |
| Chris Kreider | 1 | - | 1 | |
| Michael Matheson | 1 | - | 1 | |
| Brayden McNabb | 1 | - | 1 | |
| Beckett Sennecke | 1 | - | 1 | |
| Nick Suzuki | 1 | - | 1 | |
| Josh Anderson | - | 1 | 1 | |
| Ivan Barbashev | - | 1 | 1 | |
| Leo Carlsson | - | 1 | 1 | |
| Phillip Danault | - | 1 | 1 | |
| Josh Doan | - | 1 | 1 | |
| Noah Dobson | - | 1 | 1 | |
| Pavel Dorofeyev | - | 1 | 1 | |
| Jack Eichel | - | 1 | 1 | |
| Jake Evans | - | 1 | 1 | |
| COMPLETE STATS | ||||