Montreal Canadiens
Habs Highlights: The Lane Hutson Show, Dach and Laine

The Montreal Canadiens faced the Utah Hockey Club on Tuesday night, the first ever trip to the new NHL franchise for Martin St-Louis’ troops. The Habs had to do without Emil Heineman, who was struck by a car while walking in Utah, and is expected to miss up to four weeks as he nurses his injuries.
It was an exciting game that featured a few lead changes, with the Canadiens’ resilience once again coming to the forefront to secure a 5-3 win.
There’s a lot to discuss, so let’s dive into the highlights!
This Again
The Habs have improved many aspects of their play, including both their offensive and defensive impact, one of the main reasons they’ve managed to climb the standings, and consequently, are now in the playoff conversation.
But there seems to be no end in sight to their complete lack of discipline, a longstanding issue that has placed them in a very difficult situation on most nights, especially when they give up an early 5-on-3, as they did early in the first period against Utah. Michael Pezzetta took the initial penalty, while Mike Matheson followed it up with his own questionable call, leading to Josh Doan’s second goal of the year, and, of course, the Habs playing behind the eight-ball from the very get-go.
Again, this is a team-wide issue, as evidenced by penalties by Kirby Dach and Patrik Laine to close out the period, but at some point they’ll want to sit down and have an honest discussion as to why they show less discipline than a group of cranky toddlers who missed nap time and decided to raid the juice cupboard instead.
Fortunately, Matheson made up for his penalty by scoring a very nice goal, his first in 20 games. As per tradition, the speedy defenceman used his fantastic skating to quickly carve out precious ice in the offensive zone.
Mike Matheson is faster than you.
The #GoHabsGo defenceman scores a great goal to tie the game 1-1. pic.twitter.com/79p9HojMh3
— Marc Dumont (@MarcPDumont) January 15, 2025
In His Office
Utah scored their second goal of the game shortly after Dach’s penalty expired, but as we’ve come to realize in the last 15 or so games, this team has a newfound sense of confidence, especially when they’re facing adversity.
Their resilience paid off when Patrik Laine scored his first 5-on-5 goal of the season, though it was definitely in the same spot as he’s scored his nine powerplay goals. Not only did he break the ice at 5-on-5, he also drove the play, generating a controlled entry before dishing off the puck and quickly finding open ice.
Le premier du Finlandais à cinq contre cinq ! pic.twitter.com/mgBIkIJNiv
— TVA Sports (@TVASports) January 15, 2025
Lane Hutson Time
Montreal took a one-goal lead late in the period, thanks to Lane Hutson’s penchant for creating time and space for his teammates, not to mention some rather shoddy defending from Utah.
Even if he didn’t face the stiffest resistance as he made his way to the net, we still have to give credit to Dach. He’s enjoying a lot more success in the offensive zone because he’s spending a lot less time defending, and that’s due to better decision-making when he has the puck.
Lane Hutson finds a streaking Kirby Dach, who scores a very nice goal to give the #GoHabsGo a 3-2 lead at the end of the second period. pic.twitter.com/4ueNxvMsy5
— Marc Dumont (@MarcPDumont) January 15, 2025
Hutson wasn’t done there. The phenom set-up yet another goal, and this time around he found Cole Caufield with a perfect pass that he sold as a shot, forcing the goaltender to stay set instead of adjusting to the play.
It was Hutson’s third assist of the night, pushing his season totals to an incredible three goals and 32 assists in just 43 games, first among all NHL rookies.
I know many outside of Montreal are having a hard time accepting Hutson is an impact player, and they cling onto the fantasy that his defensive issues outweigh his impressive scoring pace, but that, my friends, is what we call ‘coping’.
Hutson is bordering on elite a little over half a season into his NHL career, and it’s only going to get better from here.
30e, 31e et 32e mentions d’aide pour Laner
If an apple a day keeps the doctor away, what does three do? Asking for Lane Hutson#GoHabsGo pic.twitter.com/mFGrr0RE7H
— Canadiens Montréal (@CanadiensMTL) January 15, 2025
More 5v5 Scoring
Again, the goaltender will want this one back, which is probably a stupid saying since all goaltenders want every goal back, but I digress. Dach scored his second goal of the game, an encouraging sign for a player who seems to be finding his rhythm after a very slow start.
Speaking of encouraging, it was the second line’s third goal of the game at 5v5.
qui n’essaie rien n’a rien
a reminder to always shoot your shot#GoHabsGo pic.twitter.com/pBdqIiAVio
— Canadiens Montréal (@CanadiensMTL) January 15, 2025
The Montreal Canadiens are back in action on Thursday. They will face the Stars in Dallas, with the puck drop scheduled for 8 pm ET. All Montreal Canadiens statistics are 5v5 unless otherwise noted.