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Canadiens Postgame

Canadiens Instant Recap: Hutson Not Enough To Prevent Loss

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6 months ago

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The Montreal Canadiens faced the Wild on Thursday night, looking to win their first game in Minnesota since 2011.

The Habs played much better in their own zone than they have in previous stretches, but it was not enough, seeing as their offence dried up at an inopportune time, and the Wild emerged with a 3-0 win.

If you’re interested in joining a fun discussion about all things Habs, don’t forget to join me for Game Over, via this link.

Grinding Start

It wasn’t the most exciting first period, but that was perfect for the Canadiens. As much as Monday afternoon’s game against the Buffalo Sabres was entertaining, keeping the Wild off the board in the first 20 minutes of the game is an encouraging step for Martin St-Louis’ team. Unfortunately, the Habs only managed two shots in the frame.

Full marks to Mike Matheson for breaking out physical play against one of the top forwards in the NHL, Kirill Kaprizov.

Hutson Impact

I try to avoid praising every single exciting play made by rookie Lane Hutson, because frankly, those plays have become a common occurrence during the excellent start to his NHL career. And while there are some defensive woes that need to be addressed, including his positioning, it’s quite clear he’s the player who will drive the offence when no one else is capable.

As is tradition, we saw him create several chances out of thin air on Thursday night. It wasn’t enough to drag the Canadiens to a win, but it must be said the rookie is already one of the best players on the team.

It won’t be long until we remove part of that sentence and describe him as the team’s most-valuable player.

Zebra Impact

Sometimes referees will avoid making an obvious call because they don’t want to be the star of the show. They prefer the teams figure things out without their input, which is a noble, if not confusing, frustrating, and contrary to their responsibilities.

For example, when Ryan Hartman ran Juraj Slafkovsky into his own goalie, not only did the referees play the advantage and allow the Wild to keep pressing in the offensive zone, they ignored Filip Gustavsson’s actions, which were clearly worthy of a penalty.

The Wild scored on the very next play, which included a faceoff in the Canadiens’ end due to the zebras opting not to call a very obvious penalty. It doesn’t happen as often as some may suggest, but in this case, the poor decision by the referees led to the only goal of the game in the first 40 minutes, which certainly placed them in a starring role.

Brass Tacks

The Canadiens did not generate much in terms of offence, but at the very least, both the first and second lines had a decent outing when it came to controlling the shots. On that note, the Habs managed just two high-danger scoring chances at 5v5, easily their lowest output of the season.

One of the major issues on Thursday was accuracy, or rather, a lack thereof. The two decent chances that come to mind came from Slafkovsky and Kirby Dach, but they were both shot squarely at Gustavsson’s chest, which made life very easy for a goaltender who tends to perform even when the chips are down.

The Montreal Canadiens are back in action on Saturday. They will host the Columbus Blue Jackets at the Bell Centre, with the puck drop scheduled for 7 pm ET. All Montreal Canadiens statistics are 5v5 unless otherwise noted. Via Natural Stat Trick.

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