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Canadiens Highlights

Canadiens Instant Recap: Caufield And Hutson Remain Red Hot

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12 months ago

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montreal canadiens cole caufield

The Montreal Canadiens hosted the Ottawa Senators on Saturday night at the Bell Centre, a match-up that gave the home team an opportunity to emerge with a rare victory against their Ontario foes. Several players stood out for the Habs as they beat Ottawa 4-1, including phenom Lane Hutson, goaltender Samuel Montembeault, and forward Cole Caufield.

There’s a lot to discuss, so let’s dive into the highlights!

Prospect Evolution

While everyone focused on Oliver Kapanen and Joshua Roy during the Canadiens’ training camp, the player who produced the best underlying numbers in preseason action was actually Emil Heineman. It’s an encouraging sign, as Heineman is reaching the age where you want to see him provide value if he’s to be given a permanent spot in the lineup.

The 22-year-old scored the first goal of his NHL career on Saturday night with a little help from his friends, including Christian Dvorak and Hutson. Michel Lacroix announced Hutson would receive an assist on the play, but the NHL ended up only crediting Dvorak. It’s unfortunate, but it’s not that important in the long run. What matters is that it’s clear Hutson’s skill set is translating nicely to the NHL, and this is just the beginning of the beginning of his professional hockey career.

Caufield Remains Red Hot

There’s no stopping Cole Caufield since he changed his number to 13 in honour of his late friend, Johnny Gaudreau. The sniper has scored three goals in as many games, including his classic Caufieldian shot that gave Senators goaltender Linus Ullmark no chance to make the save.

Even though there were fears that his shoulder injury had derailed his scoring ability, Caufield finding his scoring rhythm was always the most logical and predictable path forward. More than anything, Caufield had awful luck in the shooting department last season. Now that he’s back to picking his corners, the sky is the limit, however, we should always remember that goalscorers run hot and cold. Another slow stretch is certainly possible. The good news is that it’s likely to be followed by a hot streak.

Monty’s Mettle

Tim Stutzle eventually found a way to beat Montembeault in the third period, but overall, the Habs’ starter had yet another great game, especially during the stretches in which the Senators took control. That being said, the Canadiens players also did their job, taking advantage of the excellent play from their goaltender to establish an early lead.

It’s Goal Time

Even though he was denied an assist on the first goal of the game, Hutson did not rest on his laurels. I know I spend a lot of time discussing Hutson’s excellence, and that may be setting the bar unreasonably high when it comes to what fans expect from the rookie, but it’s the player who is writing the script in this case.

But in the interest of remaining somewhat neutral, I will go ahead and say it’s a little underwhelming that Hutson is yet to score his first NHL game. I mean, he’s already played five games in this league, what’s the holdup? Sure, he has five points in five games, and yes, he’s the early favourite to win the Calder Trophy, but, there’s always room for improvements, right?

To think, every single team in the NHL, including the Habs, passed up on drafting this guy because they were afraid his diminutive size would hold him back. If anything, it has helped Hutson because it allows him to be incredibly shifty on the ice.


Caufield added another goal midway through the third period, as he did a good job of following-up on Nick Suzuki’s breakaway. Don’t look now, but Caufield is now on pace for 112 goals this season. Or maybe do look. Not looking would really remove a lot of the entertainment involved in watching sports, and I’m not your supervisor.

The Montreal Canadiens are back in action on Monday. They will host the Pittsburgh Penguins, with the puck drop scheduled for 7 pm ET. All Montreal Canadiens statistics are 5v5 unless otherwise noted, via Natural Stat Trick. Game Score Via Hockey Stat Cards.

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