Jumping out to one of their famously tenuous three-goal leads, the Montreal Canadiens had their hands full with the Vancouver Canucks on Tuesday night. Despite how unsafe three-goal leads are known to be for the Habs, they managed to put together a strong third period to avoid blowing another one, ending with a 4-2 win in the penultimate game of this western road trip.
The Habs’ top line was undeniably dominant in securing this win, but we should also be pretty intrigued by what’s going on with the defensive pairing of Jayden Struble and Lane Hutson.
Juraj Slafkovsky, Cole Caufield & Nick Suzuki masterclass last night 👀
— /r/Habs (@HabsOnReddit) March 12, 2025
Via @hockeystatcards pic.twitter.com/ZHviWZwYvj
This chart displays just how dominant the top line was, yet highlights a very, very strong night from the de facto second pair. They were dangerous all night, and probably could have scored two or three goals between them if not for some timely saves by Kevin Lankinen for Vancouver. It did help that their most common ice-time companions among forwards were the top line, but they weren’t being carried at all.
While they were on the ice at even strength, they held an expected-goals share of over 80%. Going back to the previous game against Calgary, they were over 70% on that front. This is a pairing that raised some eyebrows when it was initially put together, but they have been steadily improving as they get more game experience alongside each other. There is some seriously intriguing potential to this pairing, as they’re really only getting started.
It is far too early to start penciling in pairings for next season, but not too early to wonder if this could be a longer-term option We know that the team has shown some interest in eventually having David Reinbacher play with Hutson, but knowing that Struble can work in that spot gives them some flexibility. They don’t have to hope and pray that Reinbacher is ready to step into top-four NHL minutes next season. They can consider Struble for that spot, and wait to see how the rest of the blue line shapes up around them. We also know there will likely be some subtraction, possibly some addition, so things could look very different by the time we get to October.
But with 18 games remaining on this year’s schedule, if these two keep playing like they have been lately, they could be setting themselves up for next season.
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