Losers of three straight games in regulation, the Montreal Canadiens were looking to salvage something against the Florida Panthers before getting back to the Bell Centre. Their road trip had been incredibly unkind to them, and even though they had beaten Florida twice already on the season, the stage was set for them to head home with zero of a possible eight points, dealing a significant blow to their wild card hopes.
That didn’t happen, as they continued to have Florida’s number on the year, with two of their stars in Lane Hutson and Nick Suzuki leading the way.
Lane Hutson with a very smart pinch, then a perfect pass to set up Nick Suzuki. #Habs up 3-2 pic.twitter.com/vk6na0JfAM
— Matt Drake (@DrakeMT) March 30, 2025
This play came on the heels of a very close chance for Juraj Slafkovksy, which was set up by Suzuki. Hutson could not have possibly timed his pinch better, and he was in perfect position to turn the play into a second consecutive chance, on which Suzuki made no mistake. Which of the two you’d like to make the first star of the night would be a toss up, but it was quite clear that they were driving the bus for Montreal in an important game for their playoff aspirations.
With Hutson emerging as a frontrunner for the Calder trophy, and Suzuki poised to register the first point-per-game season as a Hab since Alexei Kovalev nearly 20 years ago, the future is bright. That they have the ability to impose themselves on a team that has been at or near the top of the Atlantic all season only serves to make it look brighter. If this is what they can do right now, when the team’s window has yet to open and they’re overmatched on paper, what kind of things will they be able to get done when Kent Hughes has finished the build around them?
Now, while they were the two best players on the ice, that doesn’t take away from the rest of the team’s effort. It took a full team effort, even if they were leading the way. It must be perplexing for the on-and-off division leaders to have had such a difficult time with the Habs this season, now losers of all three contests in regulation by a combined score of 11-3. There’s something about the Panthers that seems to bring the best out of the Tricolore as a team, and hopefully they can keep that going when they meet for the final time at the Bell Centre on Tuesday night.
If they have one more effort like that in them, perhaps they can start a winning streak that solidifies their hold on that final wild card spot.
Click the play button below to listen to your full Bottom Six Minutes, also available wherever you get your podcasts. We’ll be back on Tuesday night, when the Habs will host the Panthers to complete the home-and-home.
