The out-of-town scoreboard has been kind to the Montreal Canadiens of late, providing them a chance to create some breathing room in the wild card race. To do that, all they needed was a win against the lowly Philadelphia Flyers, who fired their coach the day prior to the Habs’ visit as a result of their slide out of playoff contention. Unfortunately, this road trip has become somewhat of a nightmare for Montreal, as they put forth yet another disappointing effort en route to a 6-4 loss.
On the bright side, now with 51 assists in his rookie season, Lane Hutson is closing in on the team’s rookie defenceman record of 55 set by Chris Chelios in 1984-85.
Hutson sauce over to Struble, and he sets up Cole Caufield at the side of the net to sneak one in there.
— Matt Drake (@DrakeMT) March 28, 2025
3-2 #Habs still have a chance here. pic.twitter.com/jdCrCkMi1n
Hutson was one of very few Habs players who seemed to really show up for the first period of that game, and was their best player throughout. He did everything he could to bring the team back into the game, and he almost ended up tying the game at three before it got away from the team. There is plenty of blame to go around for how last night’s game ended, not an ounce of which could be laid at the feet of Lane Hutson.
His haters, for lack of a better term, love to harp on his secondary assist totals as a negative. Frankly, it shows a general lack of hockey knowledge to do so, as the role of a puck-moving defenceman is precisely to act as the springboard from which offensive opportunities are created. Moreover, a significant amount of his secondary assists are like the one shown above – crucial to the eventual goal, and not the pure happenstance that some would like to make them out to be.
As frustrating as that loss was to watch, his play was about the brightest silver lining you could hope for. If this team can’t pull it together and hold on to their wild card spot, that statement will ring true for the season as a whole. Realistically, this team might not even be in the wild card conversation if not for what Hutson has been doing, so there is plenty of reason to be excited about the team’s future.
Kent Hughes should be blowing up his agent’s phone this offseason, as locking him down before he reaches his full potential could be a real coup for the organization.
Click the play button below to listen to your full Bottom Six Minutes, also available wherever you get your podcasts. We will return tonight, as the Habs are right back in action against the Carolina Hurricanes.
