Lane Hutson dominant in convincing win over Bruins

Michaël Petit
Lane Hutson dominant in convincing win over Bruins
Credit: DansLesCoulisses.com

On Tuesday evening, the Montreal Canadiens visited the Bruins in Boston.

Jacob Fowler was tasked with slowing down the Bruins, while there were also two skater substitutions.

Adam Engstrom made way for Jayden Struble, while Phillip Danault played his first game back with the Habs. Owen Beck was replaced by Danault.

Here's the Habs lineup for tonight's game.

True to form, the Habs and Bruins quickly set the tone for the game.

Tanner Jeannot and Josh Anderson came to blows on the opening face-off.

A few minutes later, it was the turn of Arber Xhekaj and Nikita Zadorov to throw down the gloves.

A Canadiens-Bruins match gets off to a good start.

And to round off this pair of battles, Samuel Blais scored his first goal in a Habs uniform, from a tight angle.

You could almost say it was in the office of Cole Caufield, who has already scored a few goals from this angle.

Moments later, we got to see Jacob Fowler make a great save to keep his team in the game.

However, Fowler conceded on two occasions before the end of the first period (and they weren't bad goals). The first goal was the result of poor defensive coverage, and the second (scored on the powerplay) was a perfect shot following a beautiful pass from David Pastrnak.

After 20 minutes, it was 2-1 in favor of the Bruins.

At the start of the second twenty, Ivan Demidov managed to break free, taking advantage of the space at center ice and foiling Jeremy Swayman.

However, on the same sequence, Alexandre Texier left his team's dressing room after a heavy fall on the boards following a check.

We didn't know until the start of the third period that the Frenchman wasn't coming back into the game… Another tile falling on the Habs' head…

By the middle of the second, the Habs had taken four penalties, but fortunately the Bruins capitalized on only one occasion.

The Habs also had a few powerplay opportunities, and Ivan Demidov was nowhere to be seen on the first wave…

The Bruins had a glimmer of prospect to regain the lead at the very end of the 2nd period, but the goal was eventually disallowed for goaltender obstruction.

After 40 minutes of play, it was 2-2.

The Habs didn't give up in the third period, however, scoring no less than FOUR more unanswered goals in the space of five minutes and 18 seconds (!!!).

First, Zachary Bolduc scored his 10th goal of the season.

Then it was Cole Caufield's turn in a five-on-three situation. The diminutive forward had several chances to score in the last few games and it finally paid off, as he scored his 18th of the season.

He put Swayman to sleep with several dekes before slipping it through the goalkeeper's legs.

Moments later, after another bad Bruins penalty made it another five-on-three, the captain deftly slammed the puck home.

An 11th goal for Suzuki this season.

And finally, Juraj Slafkovsky also scored his 11th of the season.

He threaded the needle on a beautiful shot on reception.

In all, Lane Hutson had a total of three assists during the game. That gives him a total of 13 assists in his last eight games . Incredible kid.

The game ended 6-2 for the Habs. A fine victory before the Christmas vacations, and also a 20th win this season.

The Habs' next game is on December 28, when Martin St-Louis's team visits the Tampa Bay Lightning at 5:00 p.m.


Overtime

– In the first half of the game, the Habs weren't exactly intimidating with their man advantage. Fortunately, they got back on track, scoring twice in the third period (five-on-three each time).

– Phillip Danault really hasn't been effective in the faceoff circle, with only 27% efficiency… The Habs went after him for this facet of his game, which is generally very good, among other reasons.

– The Habs have scored seven points out of a possible eight in their last four games, and 10 points out of a possible 14 in their last seven games. That's a big help in climbing the Atlantic Division.

– Jacob Fowler continues to impress in the NHL, with a record of 3-1-1, including one shutout. He has also maintained a 2.41 goals-against average and a 0.918 save percentage, which is excellent for a rookie goalie. If he keeps this up, it'll be hard to send him back to Laval when Montembeault returns to Montreal.

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