MONTREAL — Lane Hutson brought the puck up the ice, then fired it into the net and opened up space for Juraj Slafkovsky to make it a goal. 4-4, the Montreal Canadiens eventually won 5-4 in overtime.
At the end of the game, the stat sheet showed that Hutson received one assist and ended up losing 1 point against the New York Rangers, but this cannot but represent his performance.
Because Hutson didn’t just get the puck up the ice and into the net in this sequence of actions, he actually helped the Canadiens to a victory that speaks volumes about his character and theirs.
The night before, Hutson and the Canadiens were humiliated by one of their fiercest rivals at the Bell Centre. After coming up five points short of a 3-0 lead in a 7-3 loss to the Toronto Maple Leafs, how he and they will handle the Rangers will be a question for all of them. It’s a huge test of character. .
It’s impressive to see Hutson and the Canadiens come through this with flying colors.
He played 25 minutes and 10 seconds and wowed you almost every game. He’s energetic but calculated in his decision-making, he’s alert and strict with the puck, and without it he’s like a dog on a bone.
Hutson is also exactly what Canadiens head coach Martin St. Louis predicted he would be after seeing his struggles on Saturday.
“I know Ryan is a rookie, and I don’t think he’s playing like a rookie,” St. Louis said after Sunday’s game. “He played a lot tonight. I’m not surprised; Ryan’s a hockey player and he’s going to fight and he’s won some games against big guys in the corner. And Ryan is very talented. Ryan is It’s about the group. It’s not about Ryan, so I’m not surprised.”
He also wasn’t shocked at how the Canadiens found the necessary toughness to win under such adverse conditions.
It was their third game in four nights, their second in 24 hours and the first in 16 years where they didn’t have to travel and do it in front of fans with facial expressions. Most teams would lose in this situation, but the Canadiens did what St. Louis expected of them.
That’s what they’ve done since early December, and it won’t be undone by a loss to the Maple Leafs.
Still, seeing the Canadiens erase a four-point Rangers lead saw Arber Xhekaj stand up and sit down against Matt Rempe, See Nick Suzuki Now from Adam Fox , recovered from a big hit and then scored a clutch goal on his own in an effort that saw Josh Anderson come back from what seemed at the time to be a serious knee injury, saw Jakub Dobes score in overtime Neutralizing two soft goals with two incredible saves and seeing Hutson dominate far beyond the stat sheet highlighted the character of this team.
Its maturity is also reflected. They have lost just once in a row over their past 15-6-1 record.
“I think we’ve been able to stay sane and stay process-driven,” St. Louis said. “I think our team starts here… they understand where we are in the season, what we’ve been through, and I think there’s tremendous support for the way we do things…”
Without it, the role won’t shine like it has since the Canadiens’ 8-13-3 start.
That role shone unbelievably in Sunday’s game — the Canadiens took 68 shots to New York’s 57, 33 hits were exchanged, and the field goal percentage between the two super heavyweights was even higher. Very high.
Emotions ebbed and flowed at every lead change, with fans screaming after Dobes robbed Vincent Trocheck and Artemi Panarin, then Patrik Laine Taking their decibel level up a notch with the winning goal.
“It’s sick,” Xhekaj said. “We had a lot of fun.”
The Canadiens got a break on Monday.
Their character will take over again when the Tampa Bay Lightning visit the Bell Center on Tuesday, and they’ll lead the Canadiens through the rest of the season as they sit in an ultra-competitive Eastern Conference race Fight for the playoffs. .
Sunday’s game showed how much they have that element. From Hutson to veteran Brendan Gallagher who had a goal, an assist and was named the No. 1 star, that character is a hallmark of this team.
