Hockey

Lane Hutson on Monday, the bosses yesterday… Sidney Crosby today?
Charles-Alexis Brisebois
Lane Hutson on Monday, the bosses yesterday… Sidney Crosby today?
Credit: Getty Images

On Monday, Lane Hutson signed his big contract. We're talking about the fourth most lucrative deal in the Canadiens' history, behind Carey Price (who was at the Bell Centre yesterday, but didn't get much attention), Noah Dobson and P.K. Subban. Yesterday, Jeff Gorton received a promotion (on paper) to president and a contract extension. GM Kent Hughes also announced his contract extension. What's it going to be today? Is Sidney Crosby coming to town, or what? Well, we're obviously making jokes. But after the Habs' fine (albeit imperfect) victory yesterday at the Bell Centre and their strong start to the week, we've got to admit that the mood in town is crazy. More than ever, after their third win in four games this season, the Canadiens are giving their fans prospects. And they're responding in kind. The opening ceremonies (a real success in my opinion) had fans jumping out of their seats, and the energy carried over into the game. After Ivan Demidov's goal, the Bell Centre was noisy en masse, andMartin St-Louis was particularly moved by the outpouring of love for him

It has to be said that fans get their money's worth when they go to the Bell Centre. In their last 13 regular-season home games, Martin St-Louis' men have gone undefeated in regular time.That‘s no mean feat

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Looking back on yesterday's 5-4 overtime win by the Canadiens over the Kraken, there are a number of things to remember…

1. Nick Suzuki and Cole Caufield confirmed after the game that they were asked – along with Lane Hutson – how they wanted to proceed at the end of overtime, following the timeout. This was on the heels of the sequence on which Caufield scored the winning goal.

Cole Caufield is hungry.

–

Martin St-Louis

By the way, I've noticed that Caufield is now part of the furniture. We often talk about the players who arrived recently (Noah Dobson, Zachary Bolduc, Ivan Demidov and Lane Hutson, to name a few) or the captain, but less about Caufield, it seems. I'm not saying that negatively, by the way. But yesterday, he didn't get the most attention, but he still finished the game with two goals after a good 200-foot game.

2. Ivan Demidov caught my eye yesterday,and I'm not saying that because he spoke French or dominated the ice: I'm saying that because he played Three Days Grace before the game. #MesPrioritésSontÀLaBonnePlaceBut seriously, this is the game where he looked the most like a rising star since his NHL baptism by fire. Both his pass on Alex Newhook's goal and his goal were gems, and he played a full 14 minutes and 43 seconds.

3. Mike Matheson and Noah Dobson are off to impressive starts. Both are eating up minutes (25 and 23 minutes, yesterday) and playing against big opponents. It's easyto see why Kent Hughes wants to keep Mike Matheson in town.Kaiden Guhle (22) and Lane Hutson (23) have also spent a lot of time on the ice. Alexandre Carrier played more than 15 minutes and was effective, and Arber Xhekaj, with his 10 minutes (mainly before Jared McCann's goal) on the ice, didn't impress. Will he play on Thursday

4. I don't know if the trios at the end of the game will hold up for the next game. Martin St-Louis stirred his fruit salad when his club was slipping a bit. It went like this.

5. Patrik Laine puts in a little more effort on the ice. He made a fine pass to Demidov on the tying goal late in the game. Laine played 10:43, a few seconds less than Oliver Kapanen's 11:26. 6. How much is Samuel Montembeault to blame for some of the four goals allowed? I wonder what the people in the Canadiens' dressing room would say to that question,and I wonder what Team Canada's executives think.spacer title='prolongation']This morning, the Canadiens will be practicing in Montreal for their team photo. Tomorrow, the Habs will be at the Bell Centre again (against Nashville) for the second game of four in a row at home. After that, a big trip out West awaits the club.

(Credit: NHL.com)
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