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Lane Hutson and his historic time of possession

 Christopher Brown
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Lane Hutson and his historic time of possession
Credit: Getty Images

Let’s talk about yesterday’s player of the game for the Canadiens.

Lane Hutson, who laid on the ice last night for so many minutes (30:05 in a game that didn’t go into overtime) for his coach following Mike Matheson’s injury, was more than humble.

After the Canadiens’ 4-1 setback, he said everyone could do more… him first.

If he can give more, that’s good news for the Habs. Why? Because anyone who saw yesterday’s game will have noticed that Lane Hutson really did it all.

Don’t let his negative differential or the fact that he didn’t get a point stop you: the American was the Canadiens’ best player last night. And it wasn’t even close.

Offensively, of course, he was himself. He didn’t get a point, because a guy can’t do everything alone, but he controlled the disc for four minutes and sixteen seconds.

To put that in perspective, last year in the NHL, only four guys had a game like that. And Hutson did it in his seventh pro game… on a team that’s going nowhere right now.

But if you look at the game, it’s clear that he didn’t just play offensively. He blocked three shots and distributed two checks on Kings players.

Even though he’s the lightest player in the entire NHL, Hutson still managed to do this. I’m impressed.

Martin St-Louis, who was not a happy customer after the game, had nothing bad to say about Hutson. In particular, he liked the fact that his defenseman didn’t take a shift off.

This sequence speaks volumes, for example.

When you look at it, Hutson played a lot because Matheson didn’t finish the game (we can’t wait to hear more, by the way) and because the Habs needed offense. But he definitely played more than the others.

Hutson doesn’t have to play 30 minutes every game, but a guy like Arber Xhekaj has to wonder why he didn’t play more in the absence of the club’s #1 left-handed defenseman.

  • Mike Matheson: 7:35
  • Arber Xhekaj: 14:31
  • Justin Barron : 17:45
  • David Savard: 18:58
  • Kaiden Guhle: 23:09
  • Lane Hutson: 30:05

It’s worth noting that David Savard, who hasn’t had a great start to the season, isn’t the one who’s been used the most. The club is trying to control his playing time and yesterday, the Habs needed to score.

Guhle and Hutson are the guys who ate up the big minutes. And I don’t hate that… although seeing a lot of players play en masse explains why the Habs aren’t good defensively.

I can’t wait to see what’s in store for Mike Matheson. Is Logan Mailloux standing by down there if Matheson can’t play?

And I can’t wait to see, in general, what’s in store for the defense. Even if Matheson can play, will Martin St-Louis want to bring Jayden Struble into the lineup tomorrow against Patrick Roy’s Islanders?

But of course, Lane Hutson’s fine performance masks the fact that almost all the other guys played poorly. It wasn’t a good hockey game from the Habs.

What do I remember about this game?

1. The Kings had given up 14 goals in two games before arriving in Montreal. They had played the night before in Toronto, so had traveled overnight. It was a good opportunity for a rested Canadiens to take advantage.

But it didn’t happen.

14 first-half turnovers set the tone. It quickly became clear that the Canadiens had another bad one on their hands. And it was a long night for those in attendance.

Nick Suzuki said the club lacked maturity in its effort. I agree.

2. If the Canadiens want to be #InTheMix this season, they’re going to have to give more. A pace of four points in five games, including four at home, isn’t enough to try to make the playoffs in the NHL.

I know it’s a small sample, but what we’ve seen so far this season (especially in the last two games) isn’t encouraging. And Martin St-Louis clearly knows it.

Expectations are higher this season and the criticism will begin. Eventually, the Habs will have to eliminate bad games like this to be in the mix during games.

But the coach knows that.

3. I don’t know if Juraj Slafkovsky is playing injured, but he doesn’t seem to be himself. The first line in general seems amorphous since the start of the season, despite the goals from that unit.

In fact, the line of Jake Evans, Brendan Gallagher and Josh Anderson is possibly the best this year. That’s saying a lot.

Kirby Dach (who seems to be playing injury-free and has no points in four games) and his unit haven’t been perfect either. It’s not been a good start to the season for this line, and yesterday, Alex Newhook really lacked opportunism. He really did.

Could changes be made?

4. The Canadiens held off the Kings’ two powerplays, but were unable to capitalize on the five chances they got during the game. Not good enough.

Needs work.


Prolongation

The Canadiens will train at 11 a.m. this morning in Brossard. Afterwards, the club will head to New York for tomorrow night’s showdown with Patrick Roy’s Islanders.

What to look out for at training? Obviously, whether Mike Matheson will be there or not. The Habs are evaluating him this morning to determine the effects of his upper-body injury sustained yesterday.

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